Archon's Curse [Pathfinder Kingmaker]

[Imperator Pax]

Gozran 4713
The magical lights provided far better illumination than fluorescent style bulbs for his table. They didn't put off heat either, but magic could provide heat as well, though there was a fireplace. Eire had some idea how his contemporaries lived. He'd seen a few Brevic barons, and he'd seen Jamandi Aldori's home, and he had seen how Maegar lived... and thus his inner sanctum was at least by the standards of North eastern avistani nobility strange... probably. It was nice to have an abundance of paper though.

Gunpowder worked. Eire knew that because after arriving in Golarion he'd been put in the situation where he'd used precious ammunition that he couldn't readily replace to put down bandits... before he'd realized the exact extent of his magical abilities. That was ammo he wasn't going to get back, but it did tell him that science largely worked as it was supposed... except in areas where it didn't.

Gunpowder though worked.

Black powder worked like it was supposed to and indeed was manufacturable. That was less useful than it actually sounded on paper. Alkenstar had yet to develop corning... it had taken him a minute to recognize that was the chemical reason for how unreliable their guns were... but it made sense corned powder had taken centuries to supersede early blackpowder in Europe where it had been developed and even into the 19th​ century had still been used on other continents until industrial mass production.

Pouring over, the previous night the books that occupied one waterproof rucksack from Earth, he had again recognized the difficulty of practically introducing scientific concepts even without Plato looming over everything as a giant inertial boulder... or Galen for that matter. No the major problem was that magic made medical treatments, typically in the application of positive energy directly or through more complex spells the explicit domain of divine spell casters...

Bards could heal, and were arcanists, but that exception didn't change the fact that institutionally the ability of healing magic tended to make healing in general a domain of the church... even if churches didn't legally monopolize it. Then there were healing potions and other alchemy. That made... well a book on the development of science over the course of the 18 and 19th​ centuries on earth... pretty useless... which admittedly in retrospection it probably wouldn't have done him much good on Earth either... excepting perhaps jogging his memory on topics he might have forgotten... but on a world of magic it didn't do him much good at all.

The sort of things 'discovered' and codified by early 19th​ century French, and Englishmen just weren't actually all that useful in his situation. Or the development of two and four stroke diesel engines in England and German. Nor were the arguments they had with one another particularly the theology given he was on another world. The history book, which was what it was rather than a purposeful engineering treatise, wasn't that useful. Science, and specifically pure history wasn't that useful, geology, since golarion seemed to largely follow normal rules in geologic formations, would have been more useful, engineering processes, physics, and mechanical movements were useful... pure science less so.

It wasn't the first time he had recognized that he had made the journey into another world with presumably at best incomplete information. In much the same way the books themselves were not perfect. Golarion already had new world crops. Potatoes, and Corn... what it hadn't had, and made sense was the lack of uniform agricultural standards... standardization which frankly didn't exist even on the earth he had left behind.

It made sense. He'd asked Nilak about how the Kellids of the Realms of the Mammoth Lords.... which itself was a Taldan appellation .... handled agriculture... and the simple way was that while largely nomadic full followings... the dozen or so great confederations of nomads were large enough that at any one time some limited cultivation could be undertaken in the large valleys of that region while others pursued the great prehistoric game or drove aurochs or other pastoral animals.

Cheliax and Taldor had never moved beyond Manorial... not really There were some planation farming, which was more an intensive cultivation of planation crops, and even that on earth had been a Mediterranean or Levantine development on earth... though Cheliax did seem to have started colonization efforts... which well beyond his concern. Success was more determined by the monopoly on political power, sufficient monopoly to bypass institutional conservatism, while still having a fall back in the event he had fucked up and his agrarian reforms were too fast or made a mistake somewhere.

But he hadn't... agrarian reforms, and successful implementation of multi field farming, and crop rotation along with horse collars and steel plows were so much easier than attempting to endow universities and conduct pure scientific research. He still wasn't in a position where that was practical.

He looked at the mechanical clock, and back to his papers and to all of the instruments that were a part of his kingdom or would be. Agrarian reforms were the basis of the realm's prosperity, but they could purchase cotton from Osirion, were purchasing cotton from osirion and use it to produce jeans... and that had significant functionality... spinning jennies could be run by water power, they didn't need coal for that.

After a moment he grabbed a sheet of paper... gelatinous monsters for cleaning... oozes were slimes... maybe they could be used to clean up coal mining... something to write down for later.
--

Eire watched the heat begin to recede. These bellows were not driven by coal. They were magic, and that made them impractical for the industrial process because it was difficult to scale them up. He had the iron and material to in small batches make crucible steel, but he did not have the furnace fuel and resources to fuel it by coal.

Amvarean waited for him beyond the entry way. "It is insufficient?"

"Regretably. I will make do with a water mill, but," What he really needed was a source of coal, and it was looking like his best option would be up the murque river on the border with the slough, that was weighed out by calculated the regional characteristics of sedimentary rock formations and other conditions. He suspected that even before the ice age engendered by the Earthfall cataclysm the previous ice age, which there idence of had created the conditions for coal deposits... but unfortunately while he suspected the road of shields probably sat astride such coal deposits or in proximity no dwarven records of such reserves survived. They would have to search. "We will need to re garrison and rebuild the entire road of shields." He informed the silver dragon.

Amvarean nodded as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

As for the mill... they could rely on the Shrike's flow to turn and power the mill... that was doable but it would require more work compared to the energy density provided by hard coal. He didn't regret settling Amvarean on Lake Silverstep... in fact that was probably the safest enfeefment possible... but the road of shields was a string of dwarven fortifications and was almost purpose built to serve as his marcher lands with Drelev... if only he had people to settle there and bring them into service... but that would ideally be labor and manpower who could be full time craftsmen and wage workers rather than subsistence farmers.

... and given everything they might be dwarves... probably wouldn't given how little in terms of dwarven immigration the realm had attracted thus far but they would be other races.

He paused, and regarded the lakeshore, "In the mean time..." well he had another project, and one more in line with arcane magic practices. One he suspected would only be potentially viable due to the mana plants that he had been cultivating... but he needed a second opinion before he brought it to the castle at large... he probably needed to discuss it with Jaethal as well.

The dragon in the guise of a half elf tilted her head head, "a metal flying machine?"
--
Regongar was happy to leave the sweet teeth to... whatever it was they were going to go do, instead he was going to prod Garess again. It was a brisk walk, that took him into the upper city, or town as it was coming to be known had changed a lot.

The sagging, patchy palisade wall that had ringed the stag lord's fort was gone. Vordakai had begun the process of restoring the old dilapidated tower that looked out over the lake... there was talks about putting an observatory adjacent to it... or probably restoring the ancient cyclopean structure there. It wasn't going to be quite the same Kaessi, the tiefling trio's patron,... or elder whatever... had built her villa there, and there was already a strong Qadiran feel to that entire wing...

... or maybe Qadiran was wrong, the Cathedral shared that domed architecture ... something that blended Azlanti architecture of the Arodenite church but more than that more than the stone architecture it was the emanating magical nature that contrasted with most of the other buildings... and the handful of houses built on the plateau around the capital inn were the only brevic style architecture besides the hall.

... buildings that looked more out of place as granite sets were put down and something akin to how things had looked under wizard rule pre earth fall ...

Regongar didn't have any strong opinions on that one way or another. Even as an arcantist... well the book stuff was really Octavia's thing what he saw was the power that went into the statement. He didn't care about the brevic architecture , only that it was overshadowed.

That was the crux of the point Kaessi was making, as he walked right into the conversation upon entry to the new keep's hall. Regongar wasn't as dismissive as city people, as Amiri was... but the Kellid barbarian wasn't necessarily wrong... people in city's tended to look down their noses at people like him...

So Regongar always enjoyed it when bigger city people looked down at those sorts of people... it was funny how the city people had this pecking order of bigger cities, 'more civilized' stuff. Vordakai snorted drawing Kaessi and Kessil Aldori away from their discussion.

He wasn't stooping. That was the really impressive thing about the last year. The giants who had come down from the mountains had built everything to giant scale... they did a lot of talking about tradition this and tradition that... but Regongar couldn't fault their work. It was big... and it made a statement. The old wooden hall was comfortable, and nice to spend the winter in and be jovial in but it didn't make the same statement. That was what impressed him.

The Cyclops waved his hand, "The city will continue to grow, administration must develop. It is only the natural order that it will require the education of wizards," The ancient cyclopean word actually more generally meant any arcane spellcaster... "and while Brevoy was founded by dragons I suspect they had less interest in correct ways and means. Rather than to claim kingship for kingships sake."

That was the sort of comment that Shaoyu would have been insufferable about... but he didn't see the Red Dragon ... Regongar supposed she probably had lessons. He stopped at the table all the same and prepared to ask after the captain of the guard.

"With our lovely chancellor," The tiefling replied, "If you're searching after leads on the Technic league I doubt anything has changed." Regongar grimaced. "I can say with certainty that there hasn't been any word about them from Varnhold."

He growled and set his face in a teeth bearing face, "I'm telling you we're going to have to fight those bastards." Regongar didn't really care about religion, or technology. Gorrum didn't really ask a lot of questions or deep navel gazing and that suited him fine, he didn't have the tongue for lengthy prayer.

Vordakai's singular eye fixed him, which was always creepy, "It is possible given their alleged mandate to attempt to control the flow of technology that they may attempt to act, but thus far nothing... and they are in opposition to Brigh's church as well."

That was true. Brigh's clergy really didn't like the technic league... for all of the technic leagues tenants seemed to fly in the face of the clockwork goddess's beliefs.

He regretted that turn in the conversation though, because well.. they were a church, and churches wanted to build churches... well it was a little more complicated than that when it came to a comparatively odd faith like Brigh's.

 

[Imperator Pax]

15 Gozran 4713 AR
It was mid morning by the time they had convened, and he'd largely spent the intervening two weeks busy with other matters besides, but it could not be officially avoided... not given ... well some of the things he had in mind. Things that he would need to address sooner rather than later.

The announcement of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade was not unexpected. Not really. The fourth had, some what reluctantly, 'officially' ended in 4707 with a demonic retreat but with the crusaders too exhausted to press their advantage. It also had seen a number of changes and reforms the crusader kingdom, but the fourth had lasted fifteen long years and it had no doubt taken time for resources to be gathered against the malignant threat posed by the world wound.

The year 4707AR...

The truth was that it had been put forward as an official end after the fact. A recognition of low morale, declining participation... the fourth's reserves were scraping the bottom. The result was a petition across the Inner Sea, across Avistan as a whole, and beyond preaching the dangers of what would happen if the crusaders failed... and what would happen if the demon hordes of the world wound were able to sweep out from the hell blasted nightmare scape of sarkorsis unchecked by valiant arms.

Thankfully they weren't just having it sprung upon them. No, while officially the Mendev Crusades were organized under the inheritor's banner, and thus the Church of Iomedae was first among equals... they were not sole deciding factory. Far from it. They had to act in concert with the other great faiths who contributed to the crusade, and also the supporting nation states.

To that end... the 16th​ of Arodus, the beginning of Armasse was to be the proclamation of the first day of the fifth crusade... at least if all went according to plan. There was much in terms of preparation that needed to be done to gather consensus from the churchs of Torag, Abadar, Desna Shelyn as well as others. There were a number of good deities and empyreal lords whose churches were involved. That meant it was a complex balancing act. It was a complex, and delicate balancing act, not just of faiths, but also national participation.

It meant they had time. Time that perhaps they could make a flying ship, that could alleviate compelx rivering switching over, or long overland travel.

"You want a what?" Harrim asked tugging at his beard threatening to actually pull hair loose.

"Oh, yes I talked to one of the gnomes from Alkenstar about them." Linzi squeaked standing up in her excitement at the prospect.

Eire would have liked that he could have enjoyed that same excitement, but he had to consider the practical and what it would be used for. It was true he liked the idea, and that Alkenstar was what had allowed him to consider. The truth was though he had considered going north west to Mendev... it hadn't really occurred to him what that really would have meant... or the fact that perhaps of all of Avistan it might well have been the place he would potentially stood out least among the leadership at least. Iomedae's church in Mendev fielded a wealth of powerful clerics, inquisitors, paladins ranging from humans, half elves, aasimar and others and their ranks were further buttressed by gold and silver dragons united in the inheritor's service.

The truth though was more complicated still about the war torn realm of the world wound. He had been informed that cities like Kenabres were surrounded by favelas populated by thousands of refugees. That was another part of what could be offered in support for the crusades' cause. Just there were obvious military aims there was a political and economic sides to the equation, and that meant providing material to support the war effort.

This was not just a matter of donations. Torag, and Abadar were both gods of commerce and their churches expected fair trade, and fair pay for goods, but they also expected honored terms. The church of Erastil also expected similar continuance of practice for the common good. All of that aside, there were simple political reasons to work out provide x goods at y volume for a fixed per unit price and part of that was that this was the fifth crusade organized the churches of good aligned deities were looking for success.

There was a thump that jarred them from the discussion as the door banged open, Jaethal had been conspicuously absent from the meeting, but that in itself wasn't unusual. Spring this year was proving very busy, The Elf Inquisitor looked particularly exasperated, "Are you still talking about the sky ship?" She shook her head, "Well we have another issue closer to home. We have yet another new cult..."

He assumed initially Jaethal was being a little unkind. Technically speaking there were a wide range of schismatic and religious splinters that had chosen to settle in the kingdom... not necessarily to everyone's like. There was a cluster of various small pantheons, including ones who specifically chose to venerate triumvirate, groups of three, as well as ones who venerated groups of five gathered together deities.

"Some Kellid Shaman and some Taldan sorcerer have apparently come to the epiphany that a great gathering of dragons is inevitable. They won't shut up about the dragons return, and its spreading to the kobolds."

Because of course it was. That was without even touching on the recent church of Apsu who was a lawful good silver great wyrm of tremendous size. Their arrival stemmed through contact with church of Iomedae, though Apsu's church had connections with Torag and Sarenrae. The delegation though believed that Silverstep was a holy site to their dragon god.

It was very likely this year was going to be quite busy. "And the giants." Harrim added.

"Which ones?" Eire asked. The Stone and Storm giants worshipped Erastil had expressed interest in visiting the temple of the elk, but that involved crossing from the south eastern tors.

Harrim frowned, "They claim to be Taiga giants, come down from the far north east of the Dunsward. The nomen centaurs vouched for the druid leading them." The conversation wound. Taiga giants... whatever other distinctions between them and frost giants were, included a propensity to be nomads... and not exactly... or at least weren't rumored to be especially keen on civilization. So it made sense that they got along well with the Nomen centaurs and the militant followers of the Green Faith. It was the latter that was a potential pressure of its own, given that before the world wound the kellid nation of Sarkorsis had been largely one of adherrents to that ancient faith.

--
Tristian's faith in Sarenrae was less martial than was necessity for a crusader. This was not say his particular iteration was the dominant, or norm among the dawnflower's church, and Sarenrae was heavily involved in the Mendev crusade.. and thus there was a particular matter he was suited for in terms of contribution.

The human toll of the rusade and the resettling of refugees was not the same thing as settling normal migrants... and of course there was the matter of those orphaned by the crusade who had no where else to go.

There were security concerns of course. He'd been warned already that crusaders and witch hunts had been common across the past crusades ... and that there were treacherous demon worshipping cultists who masqueraded behind the ranks. Eire had done his best to impress upon Tristian these warnings, while still reiterating the actual goals of the kingdom and the humanitarian mission.

With the printing press operational it was ideal that Linzi be involved in this side of things. That was something the exuberant halfling was prepared to do. Even as the Halfling continued to talk about it loudly and excitedly Jaethal was regarding him in preparation for the other half of responsibilities that were coming with the task. He'd be having a conversation with Amiri and Valerie in particular as well about the need for a permanent standing army as well.

There were differences. The possibility of any heavy cavalry force, potentially any cavalry would like fall to Valerie. Thankfully the expansive grasslands that dominated the Kamelands supported horse breeding, was an option to support baronial efforts. Eire crossed the room to look down at the knave from the second storey vantage. They probably needed to relocate all gatherings like this to the keep, but the stone fortress was not yet complete... though that was a matter of mission creep than anything else.

In a corner he spied an aclove feature one of the new shrines added to the cathedral, the growing population of cat folk had added a small bronze statue of a cat sleeping by a hearth. Adanye. Another indication of a growing kingdom. Of a prosperous kingdom.

The undead elf joined him. "Not much use for a fight, but I have a collection of eldritch scoundrels, and archaeologists who are working towards what you asked for."

He nodded.

Despite being King there was still so much of the land they didn't know. The Kamelands were a great example of this even, how much they had not known, without considering the broad expanse of the charter maegar had been granted. Kame was well for all intents and purposes a synonym for cairn, referring to a collection of rocks or stones in the countryside. He knew also that Jaethal's efforts to establish the little ministry had included recruiting a handful of talented slayers into ministerial posts.... but the truth was the main fighting for would need to be a little more mundane.

... or as the elf referred to them warm bodies... and she wasn't wrong per se.

"it will cut down on the amount of time I need to spend actually hands on, in exploring." Or more correclty it would free up exploration to allow him to make a state visit in support of the Mendevian crusades this summer. It was not intended as a long trip, but there was a prohibitively extensive list of things that needed to be done this summer for the realm.

--
Notes: this was the easiest way to begin name dropping classes without being too overlty game mechanics / pnp.
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/bard/archetypes/paizo-bard-archetypes/archaeologist/
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/co...zo-rogue-archetypes/eldritch-scoundrel-rogue/
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/hybrid-classes/slayer/

I kind of sort of use Legendary games kingdom making expansion in table top... some times, so some of that stuff also show up its third party stuff. I'm still working on maps, after looking around I figured out I can import the canonical map as a sublayer and more or less trace over it... I'm having some scaling issues with it, and also the drawing of bodies of water into the softwater its a learning process.

Hopefully I'll be able to put up a map of Narland done via campaign cartographer at some point.

 

[Imperator Pax]

25 Gozran 4713AR
Ekundayo was himself originally from Absalom, but his career as an adventurer had taken him into the River Kingdoms where he had eventually settled down in the southern edge of the Narlmarches. The village of Bristlehill was quite close the shield wall, as the dwarves had named the forested mountain that both blocked the Slough, and also served as the source for the Murque Skunk, and thorn rivers. Bristlehill the actual hill was part of this mountain, and was in Eire's opinion little different in topography to the low laying southern Appalachia chain. It was not particularly high elevation, and thus its effect on wind and rain was mild. This was in comparison to say the nearby Tors, or the Rockies on Earth.

The village had been lucky to not have been attacked over the winter during the troll troubles, and frankly extremely lucky that they had realized it was under threat. Its geography as part of the geographic shift that shaped the river made it useful. Bristlehill might not have been particularly tall but it and the populace living there west of Candlemere provided them a useful place to start fortifications from that was in between Hereford, and Candlemere but north, and for that matter east of the Bronzeshield. That made Bristlehill important, because it gave them a logistical stopping point for supplies earmarked for the fortress, and for any work they did on other dwarven ruins along the shield road.

The spring thaws had not created entirely new rivers, but it had notably deepened the main arteries of the kingdom and the tributaries that flowed into them before they reached bodies like Candlemere or the Tuskwater. He wondered if the thaw this year had had a similar effect on the tributaries in the Slough. Whatever the case they had been lucky. The flooding had been manageable and that it deepened the little Sellen was probably a good thing. More than the river thaw though the spring brought with it trade as people were no longer confined to their home villages for concern of the cold.

Bristlehill had been subject to land clearing and repair after Harrgulka's submission but the real work would be this year... or at least the work having been done so far was a step beyond last years. Bristlehill hadn't so much had a market square so much as a common village field that was near-ish to the center to hold market days. What Bristlehill had lacked was now answered by a new cobblestoned district capped at one end by a large timber lodge style pub. It represented a part of the standardized building process of towns with royal attention.

Eire turned to the ranger, "You are certain this person is trustworthy?"

"I am." Ekundayo replied.

He reflexively growled. "We will have to move against Gragglebeard then." He nodded. "I cannot have him move on that Taldan fortress." It wasn't really a fortress more a dilapidated river crossing gate house...


Whatever one wanted to call the building, the ruins, whatever it was however an actual stone structure even if wasn't a fortified tower house... and clearly its purpose had been to facilitate crossing the river. It was legally that river which was his border with Mivon.... or at least notionally close enough to be an issue to the realm's security.

In the year 4499 the Iobarian warlord, or tryant interesting that historical records suggested he'd used the Cyclopean term, Choral the Conqueror had swept down and in the span of roughly a year subjugated the lands of Issia and Rostland. Choral the Conqueror's knowledge of cyclopean wasn't that unusual for an iobarian, nor was his mastery of draconic... but he seemed in his early reign had used the title.

This ascension of House Rogavaria displaced the families who would become the Mivon ruling elite, as well as the likes of the Liacenza and others who would go on to establish modern Pitax. A development that had been the norm as the River Kingdoms had been ungovernable and unstable since the collapse of the Taldan empire.

"He has a wyvern with him." Ekun pointed out, speaking up abruptly and unexpectedly.

"Really?" That was news. The Torag worshipping ranger merely nodded. "Well regardless him coming east makes him our problem," And that was unfortunate, it had probably been too much to hope for that the giant and his band would be dealt with by Mivon, or that they 'd go west to join Armag in a much straight forward route.

Still the wyvern would be in addition to the few hill giants, some ogres, some more trolls and a plethora of apparent orcs. They broke conference to tend to other matters allowing Jaethal to appear from the shadows, "Harrgulka?"

"No I had wanted to accompany him to deal with the thickskins." They should have dealt with the other lizard folk last year decisively, and now this year they were interfering with attempts to trade with another sensible and friendly lizard folk tribe to the west, and that was intolerable. "We will deal with this ourselves."

Jaethal shrugged but didn't question his use of 'we' in the context. She shook her head and moved on. It was suggested that it was possible that gragglebeard might be looking to breed the wyvern with native examples of the breed that were found in the Kamelands, and the tors of levenies, but that was pure speculation, and the truth was Jaethal had another matter she wanted to address.
--
As with Shrikewall Candlemere's ruins were originally those of Iobarian cyclops and thus it had been easy to clear the ancient debris and partition into two levels and several rooms for standard human sizes the structures of old. The lighthouse served as a heliograph to Shrikewall, though was mostly used as a beacon in favor of magical communication.

Candlemere was its own separate lake from the Tuskwater and its smaller size, coupled with the island which housed the town made the crowded waters seem that much more busy compared to the capital. The island township was a bustling urban city in its own right and home to the realm's church of Nethys... he knew of course that the twins maintained a house hold shrine within their villa at the capital but it was to gods of magic and trade that candlemere abounded.

Nethys was the largest, and the original structure. The Orsirion gods Thoth, Ptah, and Sokar formed a trinity, with small shrines to both Ra and Bastet reflected the several hundred permanent Orsirion residents who had settled on the isle never mind their frequent trade delegations from up the Sellen. The Orsirions were also the reason for the presence of a smaller temple to Abadar on the isle in the west quarter of the town. In the east built so as that the temple facing it rested a marble faced temple of Sarenrae which was of course where they were going to meet Tristian.

The Orsirion presence was complicated by their relationship with the smaller 'Keleshite', that was Qadiran humans, community... admittedly the populations had significant ethnic and cultural overlap. Katapesh, and Qadira had sent traders, and Qadira was still a satrapy of the of the Keleshite empire. If taken just as an ethnicity there were quite many Keleshites over all, a product of the Padishah's reign over all three realms for a long span of time in the past.

Most Chelish immigrants, of all races, had chosen not to settle on Candlemere favoring to move on to Shrikewall or settle in one of the settlements where a Church of the Inheritor had been erected. Originally Hereford in the west, but similar churches were already planned for the Kameland towns in the lands between the rivers and were drawing seed populations in the hundreds. Careful cartography presented Eire with the rough approximation that Candlemere island was roughly comparable in size to Manhattan, and thus the island had space even without accounting for the peninsula that created the narrow passage of the shrike that ran from Tuskwater into Cnadlemere... or the other shorelines of the lake.

Like Manhattan this was the entreport fro river travel into the realm, and thus it had plenty of reason to grow, and thus needed bureaucracy to manage the influx of new arrivals, and the business they brought with them. It behooved the royal government o insure that there was space for temporary but safe, secure, and healthy accommodations for both permanent residents, and temporary ones alike... it was in that that the clergy and the religious sectors of the settlement came into play. Baronial law had been drafted with taxation in mind, and particularly that taxes collected as part of the tithe would be allocated to support specific welfare and medical services. The Cathedral of Shrikewall's magic sustained clean water throughout the city, as well as of course protecting it from fire.

Such taxes also provided ample justification for things like legal distinction of who was a subject of the king, and travelling merchants, and registration of religious affiliation. It was far from a comprehensive national or identification system, but it was useful for government work. Especially with Candlemere having nearly three thousand permanent residents, and substantive transitory passers through.

He avoided entering the plaza proper there were too many people in it already, and standing here Tristian was more likely to see him. Sarenrae's temple was as he understood the architecture of 'southern' golarion was a mix of native Osirion building styles and those practiced by the Keleshite empire of the east. Eire gave indication of notice to the proselytizing and sermons given by a handful of Tristians co religionists as it ws for the most part standard Sarenite dogma rote barring the one on the corner professing a condemnation on the evils of slavery and the absence of the institution within the realm.

It took Tristian several minutes to join them from wading through the crowds of the plaza. A plaza that was impressive in its artistry compared to what it had looked like a year ago. This island was the entryway into the realm, and so it grew faster than most places... but the Kamelands were a wide open expanse of unsettled land and there were ruins that dated back to the Taldan period aplenty, and between then and the present others had tried to make there way.

 

[Imperator Pax]

25 Gozran 4713AR
Tristian did not wish to be involved in, and was not interested in the national politics of the Padishah Empire. That was in spite of its state sanction and clear preference of the Dawnflower's church. He did not wish to be drawn into factional strife within the church over political schisms... and yet it was within expected orthodoxy that he lobby for Royal Patronage of the church, and the establishment of new churches to the Healing Flame.

A key part of that lobbying was that while it seemed unlikely that migration would eclipse Chelish migration with migrants from Osirion, and Kelesh as well as further there would need to be other churches... in other settlements.

There was another compounding factor this this. Shelyn's response to the golden grove had entailed direct divine intercession when gods intervened the churches paid attention even when it wasn't their deity. Perhaps even doubly so, when it was a third party. Further it was compounded with the church's interest in demonstrate that the Sarenite faithful were prominent among the crusaders of Mendev, and support for the holy mission against the world wound.

With a pause to no doubt compose his thoughts, Eire gestured to the map of his original chartered domain. He began indicating New Colton on the western shore of the Tuskwater, before gesturing to the island they were on further south. Candlemere island and the lake that it shared its name with, "While with urban planning Candlemere can support more people." Indeed many more people potentially, I do not want migration to strain resources that are available. A settlement in the eastern Kamelands," What would become the city of Memphis, "Will be erected there," He indicated the eastern shore of the lake, "Or I suppose more correctly will be established as independent of the island city. If what you are telling me proves accurate regarding the immigration that will need to be but as you have just highlighted," He remarked to the heavily set cleric occupying the bench opposite him, there is the crusade as well." The pen went over the map, and wrote out the name Memphis and on the western shore, New Colton , the lizard folk village to the west of Candlemere... though obviously they wouldn't settle humans with the lizard folk, but it served as a way station up the river to Hereford. "There is another settlement up the Shrike where it meets the Thorn," Where there was an existing way station, Tristian knew.

With no time to advise his co religionists Tristian waited for the priest to contemplate which of the two future townships that they would prefer to have support for a church to the dawnflower. Eire himself had matters to deal with to the east ... a rogue giant or something ...

Rather than Memphis, which was already in proximity to the church here, he graciously accepted the offer of Royal sanction and support for one at the town that would build in between the capital and the Old Scyamore.


--
Her desk was filled with documents that demanded her attention. Things she should have been focused on, to the exclusion of distractions... which was what she called Kalikke's pet projects.

Kanerah on the one hand was happy to be spared questing adventures. It simply wasn't her cup of tea... a drink which was still in unfortunately short supply... she was so much better suited, and Kalikke as well whether or silly goat of a sister wished to admit it, to remaining here. Shrikewall was not Qadira regardless of other otherworldly beings, and trade passing through. It was not Taldor either. The promise of prestige and wealth would draw many immigrants to the realm even if not as many journeyed to the city at the center of the world.

The two divided their responsibilities on the council relative to their own talents. Kanerah was more comfortable focusing on the cold impersonal systems of hierachy and law that the legal code called for. The implementation of the realms coinage and the tax systems. Their division of labor didn't always work out, especially since the kingdom, now that it was a kingdom had to refer leadership matters to other members of the council.

If she had know that the bellflower network had planned to ambush her today she'd have of course switched places with Kalikke, but she have to settle for detailing her meeting with them and insuring that her nicer sister contended with it.

Which was what she was doing now.

A few moments later they changed positions and Kalikke's blue eyes were focused on reading her sister's handwriting and the details there in. Cheliax was a cruel place in a difference to Qadira, though her homeland could also be cruel. Her sister's office was filled with tall stacks of bound paper each page awash with draconic script. They were no longer handwritten but printed by the complex, and rapid movable type of a machine. From the figures marked out some of the papers detailed the cost of goods, fixed, in realm managed 'general stores', outlets that provided standardized goods of many varieties to people... even now there were further plans to expand cermaic production under 'Wedgewood', and plans for greater production of metal for durable iron goods through them.

Her sister's looping handwriting detailed the latest news from cheliax through messenger from the abolitionist bellfower network that helped slaves escape servitude to the north. The Bellflower network's primary mission was the liberation of halfling slaves, but their good work included freeing others from bondage including not just humans but also tieflings... it wasn't just humans and tieflings.

People who when freed from bondage, and safely in a new land would need homes, and work. Something detailed in what probably were imperfect translations from draconic concepts of hospitality as contributions, in the form of taxes, to welfare funds and payment into to create houses, but also entailed a bureaucratic policy of assessment and resettlement. Wherever such ideas had come from it created a framework for her to work with, and meant she could help people without Jubilost or her sister needing to become involved, and thus they could focus on their parts of exchequer.

Kalikke supported the abolition of slavery. There were thousands of tieflings living in Cheliax as a mistreated under class, as slaves, and tens of thousands of halflings. While the Bellflower network tilled the soil to see them free in distant lands... it was not her only responsibility. Tieflings were not the only mixed bloods coming to Narland... and from her sister's handwriting there were plenty of unfortunate half elves, noble bastards are otherwise, from Cheliax or elsewhere in the Inner sea ... it wasn't quite the same thing but it was still a good thing.
--
Notes: This is an addendum to the previous section that was taken off, because while it comments on certain things, I pulled it because I was going to expand it. So it goes up as a Friday update.

And I'm going to side bar here to discert on certain factors, in my personal model of modern economic development and Industrialization firstly I do not think it was a sure thing. I think it was a combination of factors, and I actually think that it was actually delayed from onset by the protestant reformation occurring in England. [That is a specific reading of factors of capital disruption particularly in metallurgy in England, and I'll leave that there.] However I view pre and proto industrialization as well underway in England and in parts of northern Europe by 17th​ century and in specifically the banking reforms, the maritime carrying trade networks, and the development of manufacturing among other factors. I consider England to have become 'Industrialized' by the 18th​ century, which uses a broad definition of industrialization but certainly the arrival and survival of the bank of england is a major factor.

So here, and it should be 'Wedgwood' we're referring to pottery and ceramics is a part of the industrial process of improving the standards of living of the common working man. The same with durable iron (later steel) goods and tools.

Anyway, Wedgwood pottery, in the semi long term, expect abolitionist pottery to make an appearance, but more to the point, coupled with textiles, with metal tools, this is not just about export, but thats important to its also about standard of living. Thats going to be a noticeable thing two or three years towards the latter half of the decade.

 

[Imperator Pax]

27 Gozran 4713
He watched sky, and then turned. He had an obligation to do this because because being king meant preventing the predation of ones peasants by interlopers. Whether that was an obligation levelled for moral and pragmatic reasons it existed. Legitimacy was a facet of ability to rule.


The waters of the little Sellen were only a slight curve to their bend, at this place at least they were only somewhat bent with the high side anchoring the northern portion of the river as it crossed. Given the lack of uniformity in the damage it was probably just age, there likely hadn't been any catastrophic flooding... just a couple of supports had gotten old and rotted.

The Taldan ruins were... ruins there really wasn't a much more accurate description. The old stone bridge was in poor condition, but would not be a priority to repair. The simple truth was this was the realm's southern border with Mivon to the west, and what were frankly vast unclaimed hinterlands to the immediate south of the Little Sellen. He supposed that Mivon could have laid claim to lands further west resting on the mountains as their natural territorial feature, but for all practical purposes the real boundary of power projection of the Aldori exiles was the town of Jovvox to the south west down and on the southern side of the river fork.

Without a clear mercantile motive there was little point to dispatching Dave or one of the realm's other engineers to come here and spend time and resources repairing the bridge. There was no reason to project power any further into the tall grasslands that continued beyond the little Sellen river's southern shore.

Gragglebeard himself was a fairly typical specimen of Hill Giants... besides his fancy armor. He was perhaps a little taller than Munguk, a little more muscular even but his distinction lay in his equipment and to a lesser extent the ruthless cunning the part time mercenary full time bandit seemed to exhibit.

Apparently they'd caught the giant as he was still weighing whether or not the bridge could support their weight or if they needed to cross individually. "Hmm ogre attempts at engineering, that's a new one." Jubilost grunted in observation lowering his far eye, and gesturing to several felled logs on the other side of the little Sellen. There were at least eight decently sized trunks that had been rolled towards the riverbank, and it looked there were more in the distance.

Gragglebeard seemed to be making a series of vaguely affirmative grunts to his ogre lieutenant but also looked either annoyed or constipated. Eire eyed the blue wyvern... after Gragglebeard it seemed the most dangerous thing present. It had been suggested that Gragglebeard might have heard stories that wyverns nested in the mountains and was looking for a mate for the beast, or extra wyverns to train in order to increase his own forces and their standing. Wyverns would impress the Kellids he assumed beyond any military utility.

Given a few more minutes Jubilost made the determination given the condition the bridge, and its compromised supports that it would be unwise to risk fighting on the bridge proper... in fact that letting the reavers get on it and intentionally collapsing the bridge might be a practical solution to the problem.

"It doesn't change the fact that the wyvern can fly, or that while it would probably daze the hill giants and trolls they could probably clamber back to shore."

"It would deal with the ogres and orcs though."

Jubilost did have a point there.

Amiri merely grumbled that she didn't want to wait for Gragglebeard to cross the border. He wasn't actually as concerned about the legal ramifications of attackin bandits over the border with mivon. Rather it was, so much as setting the precedent, but even that was less the matter than he didn't want to attack too soon and have gragglebeard or some of his bandits get away and then cause trouble later.

To that end he had kept weighing whether or not to open the attack from that side. He glanced to the others, "I'll begin summoning... give them some incentive to come this way, be ready." He ordered.
--
Archons screamed overhead. A handful of heaven's foot soldiers lobbed flaming javelins herding the Reavers towards the bridge. Amiri tapped her foot, and Regongar kept flexing his fist reflexively. Linzi and Jubilost had both withdrawn to the back row. Jaethal eyed the Legion Archons as the squad pivoted to hack at the angry squawking wyvern with their great swords. The trap was sprung though, the flaming javelins had insured that the trolls in Gragglebeard's ranks had hightailed it towards the bridge and way from the angelic legionnaires.

"For Gorrum!"

Amiri swung her repaired and strengthened greatsword at one of the trolls before it could get any further from the bridge. It wobbled hamstrung. Regongar unleashed a blast of lightning of his own, before waving his corrosive scimitar forward.

The attack on the bridge support began from their secondary force even as Gragglebeard realized they were trapped in the middle of an unstable bridge. He started ordering troops to jump in the water, or to force their way through the force . He didn't try and turn around and go back. The bridge buckled as the supports failed, and the crumbling turned into a deafening roar pitching thousand years old stone into the little Sellen.

The Little Sellen wasn't especially deep, not enough to reach the giants thighs but that didn't mean Gragglebeard was happy to splash into the still relatively chill water of early spring, but he and the other large giants would have little difficulty wading the rest of the way through the debris. If this had been further north, closer to Shrikewall or really anywhere along the Shrike's passage where that river was deeper and faster than the little sellen Gragglebeard would have had a problem... but the Little Sellen was not the Shrike.

Regongar laughed even as the lantern Archons swung around for another pass, and there was a string of profanity in giantish. All that did was make the cursing giant a target as the Absalom born ranger knocked an arrow that struck the giant under the armpit. Jubilost started to say something but was drowned out by the wyvern shrieking.

It's head was snapping towards the more humanoid archons.

Eire didn't expect the beast to last long, but kept it in his peripheral vision as he looked down at the river and prepared to join the battle himself.

--
Amvarean, daughter of Silverstep allowed her maid to brush her hair out. She had assumed her usual humanoid her typical appearance as a half elf. She had always found it much easier to move among humans in such a form, though it wasn't always easy to do so among elves. She had found that disappointing ... well she still found their attitudes disappointing often enough, but it had been a different sort of disappointment when she had been a wyrmling of Shaoyu's age.

Unfortunately today was proving particularly busy, with spring here there was no shortage of things to now contend with. Those ranged from of course having to hear from her sister's retainers... such as the blodeuwedd Dandrael who protected a small shrine with a passage to the first world ... as well the protests against more unruly fae. There were on that account a handful of obnoxious satyrs causing mischief with their drunken revelry. And of course she had only just recently returned from dispatching the will o wisp the peasants had dubbed the friar's lantern.

On top of such things there were reports of a malevolent troll, as well her guards had seized a band of meddlesome goblins who had been causing trouble. Apparently there were enough goblins around that the nerdowells had told them about the goblin village of Greengripe that existed as well. The captured goblins in question had been ordered to leave the kingdom. She was relatively sure that the nomadic band would do so, but if they did not then she would destroy them.

She'd need to send for the centaurs to provide benediction for a pair of dead peasants, or rather their ghosts, or failing that borrow a cleric of Phrasma from Our Lady of Graves in Varnhold, or from the Pharasmin congregation at Candlemere. The laudwigs had been good people and it was likely that the goblin village of Greengripe was responsible for their deaths.

She hadn't yet sent on her memorandum to Shrikewall as such, but it was the direction her investigation pointed towards.

Her own steward entered the drawing room and laid out a map of the eastern kamelands, and specifically the eastern portion of her domain around Silverstep lake. Though she had lived in the region for centuries... she had never paid much attention to the human ruins , or really the ruins in general prior to her death at the hands of ilthuliak.

She had not ruled the area in the sense that she now did. It was her duty to provide guidance and law to that which fell under her wings. That included a long list of things there were the ruins of an ancient canal, which would take some effort to restore but could be useful for farming. There was an old taldan quarry, and presumably nearby a castle that had been built using its bounty. Some Taldane documents recovered named the keep Thornhollow.


... there was also a herd of mammoths that had been discovered that she hoped to have domesticated, either for humans or for the stone giants... the stone giants had also shown her a naturally occurring hot spring and the great projection of a tor that if it were built upon would have made an excellent lair. All of these things, and others made their way to her attentive eye.

--
Notes: because I am a sucker for most things Kingmaker I went and got Gremlin brothers Pathfinder Infinite supplements from drive thru. They're alright. I don't use the VTT or Roll 20 material so they're not really worth the seven bucks per se for how small the actual pdfs are but on the other hand I like Pathfinder infinite lore expansion like this even if it is small., but yeah id say the price is only warranted if you use the VTT assets.

So this particularly uses name drops stuff from their Kamelands pack, i would also say that they need some better proof reading there are some mistakes and repeats between the paths... but at least someone is doing something.

 

[Imperator Pax]

30 Gozran 4713AR
An interesting bit of trivia: Calistrian wasps apparently produced honey... and with little else to do with the particular gift Eire had left it to ferment into mead over the winter. It hadn't aged quite as long as he might have otherwise done, but he'd filtered it to remove the husk, which was... unusual for most liquor in golarion that didn't come from a still. A distraction over the cold months of the year. Unfortunately the vaguelly oaken tasting notes masked enough alcohol to apparently put Jhod out for the night, and rendered much of the council beyond tipsy after a few glasses.

Maegar ribbed the aldori twins in his service that he'd brought along with him to try some more, despite the caution of temperance. The baron of Varnhold slurred, a skeptical "yeah." He replied to the his own cleric of Erastil as turned to prod his long time companion instead.

Eire sipped the mead, idly musing that this was a drink he had brewed since before he could shave... and with reflection that he wasn't quite human anymore either. He put the glass down. If there was anything Jaethal loathed of being undead it was her inability to enjoy... Urgoatha the pallid princess was a hedonistic goddess the necromancy and undead wasn't her sole domain it was just one more excess though she was among other undead patron of the debauched vampire courts as well which... Jaethal wasn't one of. Jaethal had no fear of sunlight, or of drinking blood, and could actually still be healed by positive energy but she couldn't enjoy her old pleasures.

"Well I suppose I should fetch something less potent."

"I've had dwarven rotgut that doesn't hit like this stuff."

He wasn't sure if that was a protest or an endorsement, but the royal council and this assembly had other work to do. There were investments that needed to be made into the Varnhold, supporting its peopling and work to make it productive... but that was easier said than done. Eire recognized that Maegar's domain would be the most culturally brevic... and most likely the most culturally Rostlandic of the realm.. and that meant contending with certain facets of peasant conservativism.

Erastil's church was hallmarked by conservative adherence to tradition, which among other things included the need communal consent in villages. This didn't have to be the whole village it could just be a body of elders, but the rationale was to mitigate risk. At this level, and the level above it there was simply no central control over the village economy... and frankly productivity of shared fields and the strips system was, so far as Eire measured things, absymal.

Eire suspected that such details at least could have been recognized by someone willing to study the issue... it ws the prospect of more complex financial and economic systems and organizational ideas where even educated persons on Golarion would not have reached certain follow on observations, and conclusions. Eire did question how much 'generalization' could be generated from looking at the native river kingdom villages as well as north to Brevoy. Pitax and Mivon were warm enough to support grapes and olives apparently, which provided both a convenient agricultural niche both locally, in their impact on culture, as well as for export to neighboring realms. By large however they largely followed the brevic manorial model which much as on earth had a practical limiting effect on the supply labor and manors were not really capable of responding to market forces.

It didn't appear to be true serfdom of course... that would have required a more coherent model of government, a more complex feudal arrangement than either brevoy or Pitax had. Peasant labor, as in the riverlands, were not legally bound to the land but at the same time Brevoy was also not a fully monetized market either, frequently commuting cash in favor of in kind payment. Eire suspected part of that was that Issia was less agriculturally focused than the south, and that Issia might have otherwise wanted to keep labor on hand couldn't for other factors.

Simply put the Rogavarian monarchy had for its two hundred year reign had held the kingdom together and in stasis and in turn had ruled in conjunction with the influences of Abadar, Pharasma and Erastil's churches. Presumably, Eire theorized that had created a custom that limitted the ability of Brevoy's great houses from extracting arbitrary rents and services from their peasants.... not that it apparently had stopped the issians, or probably other rostlandic lords from levying tolls and tariffs on goods passing along roads and rivers whenever they could, which was itself a sharp contrast to the river kingdoms...

... but to that end the six river freedoms were themselves, had themselves only been codified at Daggermark a century earlier.

That was part of the matter at hand. Not only did the tors separate Maegar's dunsward and steppe domain from the river kingdoms proper his population ... whatever population had already dwelled in those lands were more Iobarian, besides his brevic settlers. Of course the Varnhold's closeness to brevic traditions was not unique, but Maegar hadn't needed to force the issue on native villages as perhaps Hannis Drelev had needed to do. The Drelev domain had remained quite aloof, quiet, over the past year, likely in no small part due to the Hooktongue slough being closed to trade coming north as a result of alleged monsters in the southern slough. Whatever Drelev was doing it was almost certainly based on imposing the brevic model or noble's ideal of society on the lands of his charter.

The matter of Varnhold however meant that it was not subject to the crown law and the establishment of the realms distinctions of written and thus non arbitrary justice. Not that Varnhold had had a problem with crime before its unfortunate disturbing encounter with the cyclops lich. However it was a matter of standard practice, and one that they needed to contend with.

Eire didn't particularly care how Maegar or his subjects partitioned inheritance. That was a local issue and he wasn't going to tie royal courts up with such a matter, without a pressing reason, such as that a dispute could not be settled more locally. From an institutional perspective the kind of problem, an appeals process, he had not planned to have to deal with prior to the vanishing any time soon... but well then things had happened from there.

Maegar, the Nomen Centaur's under their war priestess, and Vordakai, all represented the eastern fringe of his realm in the mountains and beyond... and also probably there were human inhabitants within the boundaries of the charter Restov had acknowledged Maegar's rule over that didn't even know Restov had done so, never mind the migration of people from Iobaria who were just passing through seasonally.

The varnhold would have formed the obvious nucleus of the development of Maegar's domain, the establishment of farming communities to the north, and the development of the town in Varnhold pass were practical geographically determined courses of action. Similraly the road that Maegar's people had laid to Nivakta's crossing, and the bridge over the shrike to the village that laid on the Brevic side of the border had been clearly practical to the growth of Maegar's barony.

Eire waved to the map that dominated the table. From Hereford, and the boundary of the narlmarches in the west, down to a southern boundary at the Bronzeshield fortress across to the lakelands dominated by the urban centers of the capital, to New Colton, to the Lizardfolk, and to Candlemere island and coming further east to the expanse of the Kamlands, to the trollish hold to the lands beyond rivers , to Silverstep and in the north varnhold pass and leading to Varnhold itself.

Effectively five separate subdivisions, not even counting those portions of the realm to the north and south, to the far western fringes and eastern expanses, not covered by this particular map. It notably did not include the northern stretch of his domain, discounting the Temple of the Elk, the old sycamore, Akiros's fief, the fief of Svetlana's sister at Davik's crossing, the sorrowflow mines, or for that matter the mines north of old scyamore, it did not count Oleg's trading post. It was not that he had forgotten the northern march it was that they were not the subject of this meeting. He would discuss those with the kobolds, with Oleg, with Akiros, and Kressle separately at a later date specifically once they were confident that all the basic planting of the season was completed at their own farmsteads.

"With spring here we turn to both the issue of planting, but also the tax rolls, work for the year." and here year in this case was marking from the present date to roughly the 13th​ of Lamashan ... the harvest feast in the typical Erastilian farming calender. "The thickskins and the raiders under gragglebeard represent a potential recurring problem." :He paused for a moment, "They, themselves, are not the problem," They had been dealt with, "but rather the sort of problem in general." And the sort of problem that required an organization solution to deal with, because he was looking west to where the barbarians were migrating to meet the tiger lords, and recognized something needed to be done... and the crusade provided a further justification for installation of organizational principles in the realm. "This is the outline of the central west to east expanse of the realm, though does not include the fringes that comprise the dire narlmarches, the green belt or our proper border with mivon. We will construct fortifications, or bring into good condition existing structures to support a standing army that will rotate its membership to insure responsiveness to incursion. To accomplish this a survey will be conducted on placing these defenses at locations."

The process of supplying such troops, to stocking the primary granaries, and weapons would be principally a royal requirement though some would be assumed by the troops and facilities raised by Maegar, Harrgulka, and Amvarean.

The castles that would need to be built would need to be supported, would need to be in effect burghs with the aim being that no significant town or village be thirty miles from such a fortified settlement. The problem was immediately self evident. Varnhold didn't have the people to adequately fortify but a fraction of the eastern approaches... and of course the Greenbelt was similarly going to be a difficulty to fortify, and the Narlmarches wasn't exactly going to be easy.

What the Narlmarches could supply though was abundant timber in addition to quarried stone from frequent bald hills and rocky outcroppings the landscape that had made the land so difficult to settle hitherto. Still It could be done because people were immigrating and bringing skills from the south masonry to expand beyond pure timber construction.

There was a pause and Jaethal coughed, "So we're not going to discuss the Archangel of Vengeance's Church?"

Eire paused, Ragathiel was an Empyreal Lord as she had highlighted he was an Angel. One with long ties to Iomedae's church, "I had planned to permit them a place at Hereford, particularly as the castle town grows larger... Amvarean is not against permitting them to raise churches in Silverstep at some point in the future."

Jaethal rolled her eyes, "You summoned Legion Archons to deal with-"

"Giant brigands," He interrupted. The two King and Advisor stared at each other, there was a pause... "Graggle beard needed to be dealt with, and quickly... which I admit coupled with Shelyn's churches actions draws attention focus to religious matters within the realm, especially with the Crusade approaching." There was a pause, "And the ship is intended to be able to ferry supplies." Food, fodder for horses... the world wound had tainted the old lands of Sarkorsis and made it difficult to sustain war in that blighted land... and the truth was contributions to the cruade would bring in hard currency as the good aligned churches paid for the crops at the market rates of the Inner Sea rather than the inflated rates they were worth in the north nearer to the crusader state.

 

[Imperator Pax]

1st​ Desnus 4713AR

This was a step forward. The beginning of an important institutional tradition.

He accepted the bound booklet and likewise appreciated the temporary transition from draconic script to common. The latter was what the almanac had been printed in, and it to represented a part of the efforts to improve the realm. In particular the almanac introduced the changes in pig farming, particularly piglet care, that had only entered earth in the early 1900s, but it also emphasized the basics of hybridzing plants, and the use of seed corn and wheat varieties. Not that he expected the latter to really be used... for that matter he suspected that these early editions of the farmer's almanac would only really be used by 'professional farm laborers' serving the realm on the now royal farms.

The default beast of burden at erastalian farms was quite likely to remain the draft oxen forcing fields to remain in long strips as much as by the process of turning the bovine as by the longstanding tradition of communal farming and plowing. Still the almanac was the perhaps foremost publication of royal interest... besides of course using the printing press to promulgate written copies of the law in both taldane and draconic.

He idly thumbed through the first few pages, and the illustrations, particularly of jean clad workmen with farming implements produced by the baronial farming service. The jeans were the sort of the early 20th​ century on earth, and the tools were similarly largely of 19th​ and early 20th​ century farming patterns before the advent of serious mechanization in farming in the united states... but still utilizing late 19th​ century metalworking and tool design.


The almanac met with his satisfaction, and the volume next year would include more tables detailing the average rainfall of the realm, and updates next year, as royal records kept stock of changes and shifts over time. More importantly the almanac referenced the new standards and measurements being implemented.

Eire appreciated at least in their practical terms the feudal levee, and the construction services that, particularly, the stone giant were able to provide to the realm, especially under the direction of careful stone work and dressing allowing certain building projects to be brought forward. As part however of feudal labor supply it did represent a service rather than a cash payment, and while the orderly stone giants and rock trolls did accept payment in coinage and purchased goods in trade it was in addition often to barter. Still there was no denying its usefulness.

Without the giants it would have taken longer, among the substitutions for their labor was the use of standardized brick sizes to be produced by baronial, now royal, tunnel kilns that used a mechanical extrusion process to replace by hand manufacture. He still needed a source of coal, and mines, but there were good iron deposits south of silverstep, and he looked forward to the prospect of cheap nails, standard pitch screws, and the like. The reduction of cost of materials would be good, more than good.

He sat aside the book with a contented sigh... even as his thoughts drifted towards the matter of the letters from the church of Iomedae, the circulars making their way around. It was another demonstration, in its own way a reminder of of Kanerah's need for additional personnel to handle the growing bureaucratic management of a central kingdom and the population growth. Involving oneself, and the realm in the crusade meant acting external to the kingdom's borders, and not in the adventurous sort of way of simply riding over the horizon to the neighboring kingdom.

They had two and a half months, so really two months to prepare for the crusade's beginning, and determine how they could support efforts in Mendev. The 16th​ of Arodus would mark the beginning of Armasse this year.

Linzi exploded through the door holding up a freshly printed book of her own. "Its done." In cursive taldan script was written the title 'The Forgotten History of Iobaria,' then in block subscript Volume 1.

It was Maestro Penrod's book. It was another thing to be pleased with.

The scholar had comprised an entry level primer in the first part of the book detailing Cyclopean lore of Casmarron... particularly the language nuances that had caused the ranger Willas Gunderson to mistranslate the warnings regarding Vordakai's tomb. It also included the specifications of ancient cyclopean jewelry and other details of life, such art styles and not to confuse bracelets for rings.

Eire browsed the book though his was his first look at the production. What really caught his notion was that Iobarian as a modern ethnicity were themselves supposedly the descendants of the Ulfen who had migrated from the west, with 'some' intermingling with the existing natives, but that the Ulfen had been invited to come over and rule Iobaria some thousands of years earlier.... but that connection overland and by water had been cut with the winter war that had seen the establishment of the kingdom of Irrisen fourteen hundred years prior.

... but of course that only went towards his curiosity, his existing curiosity over Golarion's population. The Arodenite Calendar reckoning from the founding Absalom, the city at the center of the world, dated the Earthfall cataclysm some ten thousand years before present, which had in turn created its own miniature ice age, that Eire recognized was an occurrence of the ash kicked into the atmosphere causing temperatures to plummet and the extension of the ice caps as a result as glaciation took hold. That coupled with the expansion of those glaciers had caused the collapse of Classical Human, Cyclops, and Elven civilizations on Golarion, though it had not force life all the way south to a narrow habitable band around the equator... whether that was a quirk of geology or the whim of gods he couldn't say... but regardless the population of golarion had plummeted from its pre Earthfall numbers, and he doubted that ten thousand years was enough to fully recover to whatever it had stood at during the Thassilonian, and Azlanti height where magic and centralized leadership from complex urban centers, according to Vordakai, had allowed sprawling metropolis to exist... all devastated and abandoned due to the Earthfall.

Which still raised other questions. The Azlanti and the mainland Kellids ... and for that matter the other mainland populations including 'Keleshite', and Mwangi populations were distinct from one another... and not just distinct ethnically they had been distinct technologically. On a time scale that didn't make sense, and while Eire was considering just chalking that up to gods, and magic the Azlanti disappearance and Kellid survival post earth fall raised questions that gave him a headache, especially since they were attempting to chronologically order the histories of the lizard folk as well.

At least with the lizard folk they could record directly from draconic and just have the printing press record it. It would hopefully keep linguistic drift concerns down. It was still only one part of a nascent literature, and history record keeping tradition for the realm.. to attempt to preserve information that would likely otherwise disappear as lifestyles changed.

That way history would not be forgotten.
--
Paper production was not to the point of sustaining a paper currency. Checks, promissory notes, well that was doable... but that kind of capital wasn't necessary at this stage... the economic structure wasn't complicated enough.
Paper money was going to have to wait, and organized promissory notes while feasible with administration likewise could wait until the establishment of a national bank... and they needed a larger population base than existed at present... and so he peered over the rolls of immigrants, and the communications of sponsors of churches, and other previous immigrants... and indeed of persons he suspected were bellflower tillers or other agents among other groups that were not necessarily religious.

Some of the colonists were not really refugees but others were. The Church of Iomedae's initial wave of colonists the few thousand who had migrated in the initial year of barony... and in part due to the promise of constructing a large church to the inheritor had almost certainly been those who could afford to migrate but not so well off that they didn't have a reason to really stay where they were. There had afterwards, after the stag lord had been defeated, and as that cathedral took shape in that first year... well the Church within the Inner Sea had begun to consider other factors... and to contend with other streams of migration.

"Thank you Jaethal." He closed the binder, and pushed it to one side... and the truth was he agreed with her... this was something to keep on top of. He didn't object to the Bellflower network's opposition to slavery, but he did need to remain ostensibly neutral to insure the flow of 'legal immigrants' from Cheliax... that was especially true given the infernal kingdom's support for the Mendevian Crusades. He suspected it was only a matter of time before Cheliax either noticed what was going on, or decided it could not turn a blind eye to it... and that would be a headache. For now though there were benefits to not having formal diplomatic relations, the lack of an embassy and everything being conducted through religious intermediaries well... things could be danced around for a longer.

There was a pause. "There is another matter." She declared. "One we should deal with before more impetuous persons make problems of."

There was a frown from his chancellor to his right, and he looked at the inquisitor. "Speak then, what happened?"

"Out of an abundance of caution," Or paranoia, "I reexamined both the Technic league's original belongings as well as the area where they had been skulking," Something they had the man power for now. "My initial expectation was that the technic league were looking for the lost dwarven fortress, given their notes on reported automatons. That does not appear to be the case." Located near the, to the south, the temple of the elk was part of the dwarven shield road. Pointedly it was a fortress that had been set up to mine adamantine, which well to say that was valuable was an understatement, the entire shield road was valuable just as a road, never mind bringing the ancient mines back into use.

Jaethal was clearly holding back something perhaps in exasperation of what it might entail, but while she was concerned how Regongar and Octavia would respond to Technic league activity that was only part of her reservation of the situation. So they reached for a map of the Narlmarches in particular and settled down to address the matter.

It clearly showed the old technic league camp, and the temple of the elk where of course search parties had begun working out from. She had been cooperating with both the church of Erastil and with Akiros further to the east.

They had stumbled upon the technic league's activities as the league's agents had themselves run afoul of their own investigation... apparently dealing with some kind of dangerous fungus and combination of monstrous frogs, which frankly didn't seem all that strange for this particular region of the Narlmarches at all... which was probably why no one had noticed. Only several years of protracted heavy spring rains running into the usual summer ones, and the shifts those downpours in the rivers, deepening the arterial rivers that dominated the Narlmarch had really made it possible.


The narlmarches were broken up by an abundance of steep hills that shaped the river network. A recent landslide had uncovered a strange metal section, that had yielded more of the strange constructs that had apparently initially drawn the the technic league originally. The metal was what people called numerian steel.

"And the two automatons?"

"Destroyed unfortunately. Akiros and his kellids made quick work of them." She shrugged, "it wasn't hard to retread the path the league's minions followed." Apparently the frogs could be reasoned with, domesticated even by druids, but the fungus was for whatever reason aggressively hostile... it might have been something of the green mother's carnivorous plants or who knew what else, but they'd had to take fire to all the spores, and thoroughly cleanse the area.

... still Jaethal wasn't wrong if the landslide had revealed what it looked to have revealed then the technic league would be back.

"In any event, its a flying ship of sorts."

He nodded, but denied having any answers about it. "I appreciate all of your hard work." The question would be to find time to investigate it... though they could task Regongar and Octavia to look into it, perhaps with support from Brigh's church. "We'll have to investigate, but as I said... Numeria's technology is as much a mystery to me as it is to you."

 

[Imperator Pax]

Desnus 4713
Two weeks had passed, and the days were becoming noticeably longer as the summer solstice approached. Jaethal crossed her arms and looked at the mass of steel and crystalline lenses. The sullen elf tapped her foot as she squinted into the sunlight. "Explain."

"The simple description is that its a greenhouse, those are condensers," He paused, and then deciding to elaborate continued, "to pull water out of the air." He supposed that a different sort of wizard would have tired to just conjure water from the elemental plane, but while that had occurred to him it had seemed a needless complication when we he was already dealing with a lot of planar magic. It was a magic greenhouse

"Ah yes a green house." The undead inquisitor snarked, then looking at the apparatus again, "Its to sustain mana plants." She determined after a moment.

"Yes." He replied deciding to explain, at least in basic terms the process, because truthfully the first world flora was the heart of the entire system. "The flowers will receive concentrated solar energy, water and in turn directly power both the ship's primary lift capacity and defensive bank of wards." It would be the center piece of the ship, but the skeleton of the vessel would be a long metal skeleton of alchemically treated alloys. That in itself would be a significant undertaking, as would the building of the supporting frame work to support the floors and weight to allow cargo space, and for passengers. They didn't have the metal production capacity to make a metal hull... and any future ships that might be might have to made in two separate halves mated together, but that was in the future.

It was also why he had no plans to mount centrally powered magical siege weapons the craft... nor plans to mount ballistae or blackpowder cannons. Such were the principle weapons of Alkenstar's flying galleys. Given that it needed to be able to carry them and supplies promised grain to Mendev in three months fixed weapon mounts were hardly a priority not on that kind of timeframe.

Valerie said nothing, but the elf gave a long exasperated sigh. "Sooner or later, and at this rate it will almost certainly be sooner we are going to have to contend with issues with my former homeland."

Kyonin was famous for the Aiudara. The elf gates. The return of the Kyonin elves had been sufficient in number for the kingdom to expel Taldor from the region when Taldor had been much stronger than the modern declining empire of the present day...

Thankfully Kyonin was more isolationist than interested in reclaiming past elven glories... but it also had not escaped Eire that he had more elven subject, pure blood elves, than he had dwarves. Halfbloods, half elves, easily outnumbered all pureblood elves by a ratio of two, approaching three, to one.

It would certainly not hurt therefor in the interest of trade as well as domestic politics to remain on cordial terms with the kingdom of the elves to their south. Kyonin was after all basically the southern most of the river kingdoms, which was not a particularly politic description, though geographically accurate given its position relative to the Sellen network. "We're no closer to finishing our research on the elf gates than we were at the start of the year." Though admittedly that was because it was not a priority... the mistuned gate of Zzmas the spider did need to be kept underguard but they still weren't sure on how to fix it.

On the other hand besides Kyonin's interest in first world affairs, and particular apparently flora fauna, denizens the eldest and so forth they were very interested in the aiudara beyond Kyonin's borders... and if it came out that a nominally speaking human kingdom had figured out to fix an elf gates there was very likely going to be a diplomatic incident of some stripe.

He leaned back, "I understand he replied, and stepled his fingers. "As I said the mana plants generate the motive power for the ship. While its not intended for war, it should allow us to fly across Numeria to Mendev's seat at Nerosyan." The problem was self evident looking at a map for while Nerosyan had been sensibly constructed where the Egelsee river flowed into the West Sellen , and thus the city was a part of the great Sellen River Network Mendev was far in the west, and thus travel to there would have ordinarily meant toll passage from Numerian, a financial burden which while guaranteeing a rather safe passage did create a hurdle in the long history of the crusade. That was without considering travel time.

Planning he trip and the time was one of the major factors impacting the entire project of a flying ship... it had really nothing to do with Numeria.

"Nor is it related to recent discoveries, but we should accept that while that may be true it may not appear such to outsiders, and thus we may also face problems diplomatically from the technic league."

Valerie paused, not immediately responding to Jaethal's summary, and then after that moment to compose herself looked at the elf, "What are you suggesting?"

"I am suggesting that if the Kellid horde under Armag does make a bid for the Numerian Tyrant's throne we should weigh who we support. If this Armag Twice Born was to become Tyrant he might be in a position to eliminate the Technic League entirely." There could be no denying a new Black Tyrant in Numeria would certainly shake up the political order... and such a consideration was something Jaethal had considered.


--
Regongar started to volunteer to investigate technic league activity, but Garess and Maegar both stated they already had their respective guards handling things... and Jaethal had her own, investigators make sure that they weren't acting against the interests of the realm. The problem was that the Technic League didn't always dress in obvious costume... though occasionally they were so blatantly arrogant not just to dress in such a manner they outright advertised their affiliation to any who asked.

As the brevic law code made clear, regarding unrepentant banditry was execution by sword or rope. Slavers found practicing their trade by force, guile, or coin were hosti humanis generis, and to face the same fate. So far though the numerian organization had not been found either holding slaves or attempting to take them, which was good enough for Regongar.

Regongar looked to Eire immediately to protest his uninvolvement all the same. "I am sorry Regongar, I will permit you to investigate the league's activities in the realm... but there is actually another matter regarding their involvement." He needed him to investigate the uneartehd ship, "And I also need you to be aware that beyond the technic league it would seem that the Tiger Lords are exploring ruins on their own. So I need you to be aware of that as well."

Amiri had only passing familiarity with the giant pantheon... in fact she largely had assumed that the giants more or less worshipped the same gods as everyone else. Maybe by different names, and that even if that weren't the case it didn't really matter. Nilak called Tristian's goddess Sister Cinder so it made sense that Giants would call the elkfather something else.

It might have made sense for them to call Gorrum by some other name. Erstig wasn't that different from Erastil after all, and with the way hill giants tended to mumble their words it probably sounded about the same.

More than that though Gorrum had no universal texts... that was the meaning, but the word Eire had used was ecumenical. There was not a 'canon' unlike in his own church to the Chelish war goddess , and presumably Aroden of Humanity before her had in the lands of the Inner Sea

"Armag's claim does not win him universal or unflinching support. It has been many many generations since the Tiger Lords could claim by name and lineage alone untamed aid from the other clans." the former werewolf remarked.

"IF he could sway giants to his cause it would greatly aid his standing." Nilak observed. "Surely he would need treasure for that?"

There were looks exchanged. "Reciprocal gift giving would potentially win him allies." Eire acknowledged, "And I admit that could be what he's looking for but for the hill giants he will need to likely demonstrate some degree of martial prowess."

Amiri's hand tightened on her giantish sword ready to face any challenger. Regongar considered and wracking his brain for what he knew of Numeria's strange metal ruins beneath the surface.

--
He had reports from Garess to read through, and he expected that Regongar and Amiri would be busy in the western reaches of the realm well into summer. They had already departed taking with them small parties of their own just as Garess planned to make sure that the road north to Olegton was equally alert for potential technic league interlopers.

Eire knew that as time passed, as more migrants immigrated into the kingdom, especially as a kingdom his ability to implement things would change. There were somethings, some facets that needed to be implemented early, and some that could only be implemented later as there were more people, more towns.

Truly standard weights and measurements were one of the hardest things to implement beyond basic common units. It was necessary for standardized parts, and that was necessary for what he needed... not just for the airship but for the manufacture of common commercial goods. A simple water driven hammer could produce a general pattern of sword, and its fittings in general measure or other steel tools in what was mass production, and that was for martial weapons sufficient to arm and equip a medieval army. There would be hand fitting involved but that was acceptable even for non magical weapons intended for common footsoldiers, and guardsmen. The problem lay in more complex and ultimately more mundane things.

Standard pitch screws came to mind. It was a requirement best implemented before there were many large towns with commiserate numbers of individual craftsmen. Nuts, bolts, screws, and even nails needed to be produced to specific tolerances and sizes. It was also why there was a standard brick size produced by baronial, now royal kilns. The motive power largely, though not exclusively made possible by the flowing of the Shrike river though magic steam engines using fire magic to heat and strengthen fire to higher temperatures certainly helped... but that required a standard unit of temperature, and a way to measure it.

This was his realm. The process of construction standards earlier would save him trouble... and the mass production of durable spares of clothing at a pittance meant people free from inefficient construction of work clothes at home or on communal looms, letting them work ideally in monetized professions which would give them the money to buy goods to to justify expanded production for export and trade.

The Crusade presented an opportunity for export of commercial goods that weren't food. Healing magic or not there were never enough bandages, and that could be added to the list of goods in the future... but the crusade was certainly an unplanned economic factor... and one more complicated than say something like needing to import cotton, or needing ready access to coal reserves. The cotton was easily addressed by trade with Osirion, to which he could reexport the finished product too in theory if the market was of interest, so far it was a novelty and time would tell. The latter, coal reserves was a more complicated matter beyond just a good source. It would be labor intensive, and most likely he would need steam engines in the mines themselves to run pumps to make them viable as well as safe.

Coal was a complex factor, one beyond Narland's productive means to industrially exploit at this stage. Right now they were largely using surface harvested peat, and that was fine, because it was what the villages used, because of the prevalence of rivers and bogs and swamps... but that was not the same thing as hard coal.

In much the same fashion canals could be readily constructed due to the labor requirement it took to excavate and the construction of the locks needed to manage them. It was easier, though still labor intensive, to build good roads given the distances involved. That might not always be the case, but in terms of the kingdom's current situation Eire recognized the limits of the labor pool, and of course that how that labor could be called up and for how long in particular a feudal corvee labor could be expected. In short there were limitations to what he could do constrained they were with logistics and demographic boundaries.

The church of Brigh was a small faith, and he was grateful that Arsinoe had introduced them to the realm, but the minor goddess had few followers, and wasn't an evangelical faith either. Jubilost was currently engaged in an animated discussion with a taldan cleric of the whisper in bronze that currently looked like it was getting out of hand as the matter of Numeria and the Technic league had once again been brought up.

Brigh was herself a neutral goddess, but well her followers were some of the patrons of the illicit trade of Numerian artifacts evading the Technic league's efforts to contain the spread of such goods. It was a booming smuggling that seemed to run through the markets of New Stetven... but then from what Jubilost was saying New Steven's markets were involved in significant smuggling of antiquities from all over the inner sea and golarion beyond... which was something of a surprise. Given its relative isolation and population size, in its corner of north eastern avistan Eire would not have considered the young nation of Brevoy to have that kind of market... perhaps something to do with House Rogavaria... but the conversation needed to be headed off they had other matters to deal with.

Jaethal ghosted up to him and regarded his sketches for a moment, then to the gnome's conversation, "Are you still planning to visit Silverstep?"

"I am." He replied, "Why?"

"Amvarean has sent word that she has an interloper."

"More goblins?" He questioned. Jaethal replied with a statement in draconic and he raised an eyebrow, "I see." Eire replied in the same language.
--
Notes: there are some scraps of additional content of the party members and royal court but they're presently sitting in a side document as we move into summer. Its not that those events won't happen its just they're not making progress so Eire is off to make a circuit of his eastern territories. And some of this will have other factors i.e. Amiri's internal description of Aroden, and Iomedae, and that will reflect somewhat when Eire introduces an equivalent to midwinter dedicated to Iomedae later in the year for Narland's local practices.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Desnus 4713
The homes of the eastern Kamelands, those along Lake Silverstep reminded him of berghausen from Germany. They were largely timber shaped homes in a similar building manner to those at Shrikewall but still distinct enough from those at the royal capital. They were lovely two and three story farmhouses and chalets looking over the lakeshore. The town of Silverstep, already a population of about seven hundred, much like Hereford was not intended to be a recreation of Shrikewall... though if Amvarean wanted to build chalets at Hereford in this style he certainly wasn't going to object. They were quite attractive to look at; picturesque and nostalgic for a long time ago.

Unlike Hereford, Silverstep did not have a stone keep... but admittedly Hereford had the advantage of having had a stone keep due to it being of elven construction that predated Hereford's founding. Silverstep had the advantage of having a dragon as feudal overlord. In that though the three settlements shared the facet of having Churches to Iomedae as their central religious structure of the township.

"I am sorry Amvarean, please repeat that if you don't mind." He stated after Linzi's ear splitting squeal of excitement. He had already known about the iron mines in the western foothills of the tor, and the were to be especially important... and he wasn't terribly surprised to find other mineral wealth in the tors... from the sound of it the whole great western range that divided Avistan from Iobaria on most maps... and was probably the result of the plates pushing up on each other acting as a font of mineral wealth. North of Shrikewall were old Taldan silver, and gold mines. There was Sorrowflow even further north of here. Then of course there were the road of shields and the mines in that chain that the dwarves had built.

The dragon in half elf guise nodded, and pushed a braided lock of hair over her ear, "Recent efforts in the lands remitted to me south of the little seen have been productive, but I believe that they have contributed to attention from the east in Casmaron."

Amvarean had been flying the week before, as spring had thaw been building, temperatures warming and noticed the presence of other dragons, and some investigation of her newly established exploration of the whispering grotto had shown the poking around of a juvenile gem dragon. A crystal dragon native to the elemental plane of earth. Most likely the juvenile had entered the material plane through a natural portal between the realms in the vicinity of of the tors, and had then heard about the the source of precious gemstones.

The brass dragons likely though came from as she had said casmarron who may or may not have originally migrated to the arid steppe as a consequence of the ascendancy of House Thrune to the Chelish throne in 4640, but had migrated into a region of Casmaron with an existing population of blue dragons who likely took exception.

It was that particular issue that had brought them to the eastern side of his kameland domains, and entailed bringing word to Maegar as well... but then they'd been side tracked by precious gems and shiny dragons. Distracting them from the prospect of needing to add blues to the chromatic spectrum of ... black dragon, and potential red problems, or greens.

He'd actually been expecting a white problem from the Casmarron steppe, but in hindsight blue pressures made sense given the broader historical picture. "So we are looking both potentially a push pull factor in migration. Pressure from the blue dragons of the steppe and a pull factor in the broader diverse communities raising in the kamelands, plus potential treasure."

"That is an astute description." The silver dragon agreed.

"Ooh are those pits," Some of the outliers in size were several hundred feet deep, "We found are they from gold dragons?"

"It is possible they were dug by questing golds." Amvarean replied. As it was it seemed as if the region of the Kamelands were not to the dragon's taste and they moved on... given the sprawling expanse of grasslands to the south it was possible they had migrated in that direction.

Of course changing the matters to gold turned the subject of conversation to Copper dragons and the matter of Galt's revolution, which of course was a dispute that Silvers tended to oppose. Though most of the coppers in Avistan resided in Andoran which had become the point of congregation for their like after the failed attempt at overthrowing House Thrune. That brought them through the rest of the metallics, ending with bronze.

"Do you think some would come and live in Shrikewall?" Linzi questioned quill at the ready

"Probably not. Memphis," The settlement on the eastern shore of the lakes, "as it grows larger perhaps." Grew large enough to support libraries, and places of study. Of course he was speculating, unlike Taldor he no intention of exempting private banks, even draconic ones, from taxes. He couldn't honestly say with certainty he knew. "We will have to speak with Maegar." There weren't sufficient people in the Dunsward to reasonably have forewarning, he pinched his nose and weighed the situation with regards to dragons... he had no idea how Brevic citizens thought about dragons.

"What is it?"

"There is also the matter of the bulettes." He shook his head. They lived basically in between Varnhold and the nomen grounds, which was itself a potential headache. The nomen were nomadic so they migrated and knew how to avoid the land sharks apparently but it would be another thing to contend with in relation to the Dunsward territories

That closeness to two of his vassals, coupled with bulette's digging ability... well something had to be done... and that was the monarch's responsibility to deal with. There were a few solutions. There was a burgeoning druid community, Kobolds and dwarves were known to tame bulettes... but that most likely required raising the creatures from eggs.

Bulettes were not a natural creature. Some idiot wizard's idea of a guardian modelled on a shark but travelling through the earth had been hit by the good idea fairy... and now they were found all over golarion... and that was why the alternate contingency was to simply hunt down the bulettes in the region and kill them all... an alternative he'd prefer to wait on acting on because Amiri was otherwise occupied, and it was precisely the sort of expedition she was likely to favor being party too.

Maegar's barony lacked a large druid population, and there were even fewer Kobolds. The druids similarly would have to come from Silverstep. Alternate options involved asking for Vordakai or the stone giant's assistance. It was something of a nuclear option in Eire's accounting, since in terms of valuable labor the giantish labor was the most valuable given their expertise.

... and speaking of the baron, Amvarean's enfeefment was complicated. Not so much her territorial demesne, or her being a dragon, as it fell within the original narlmarch charter geographically. Rather that Maegar's status of a third son seemed to put perhaps some pressure regarding his reaching out in the first place, after a successful mercenary career Maegar had assumed that as a noble scion he knew enough, and had enough resources, with Restov's support, to establish Varnhold.

He accepted that no one could have reasonably expected an ancient casmarron menace like Vordakai to be woken from his torpor... but Maegar had also hoped that his knowledge of Brevoy, brevic traditions of rule might allow him to distinguish himself. Instead of the one helping, he was the one needing help.

"It would probably be wise to consider asking Maegar how he would like this handled... and we could question the centaur what they know since they are also near by."
--
Kankerata was the name the centaurs had dubbed the cantankerous old bulette. It had unusually lived in the area for decades, which stood out among other details on reflection. Its long presence had created a myriad of furrows and sinkholes across the landscape... but an area, that was for a mature bulette too small. 'The world eater' should have been patrolling a larger area, especially given the lack of obvious forage for the landshark to feed on in the dunsward.... indeed the fact that Kankerata hadn't abandoned the area for another hunting area was itself the first indicator.

That it was a lone specimen wasn't particularly unusual, but they would need to exercise caution, given the compromised nature of the terrain... one look at the terrain though suggested it was more than that.

"The terrain breaks are too even." He noted. "Summon Vordakai, I want to know if his people might have built something here." Might being the operative word, It was the best guess he had if wizards had made bulettes why wouldn't the iobarian cyclop have used them to protect a now ruined place. They were too far east to suggest it was potentially Azlanti... the terrain was wrong to be dwarven... and not to type cast but it seemed doubtful that that this far out into the grassland it would be elven either.

It was a guess, but cyclops was the best they could go on if htere were buried ruins. "Eire?" The silver dragon questioned.

"Also summon elder Hulthrak, I want Kankerata taken alive." The mammoth wrangling giant primeval elk riding stone giant druid would be their best option for that. It was ultimately a bit of extra, unnecessary excitement. While old certainly, the site was Taldan, it post dated the 5th​ army of exploration, which had reached the lake of mists and veils and begun the process of taldan rule in the early 21st​ century of the Arodenite calendar.

It almost certainly predated the return of the Kyoni elves to Golarion, which put the time frame of the ruins in a half millennium ballpark. It had definitely collapsed and been buried... probably as a result of Taldan expansion and back and forth conflicts of the Dunsward that had pushed the centaurs further south, and east... but the dunsward would have still been a dangerous place... and Eire still wasn't conclusively sure exactly how Sorrowflow mines to the west had been destroyed. They'd originally been operating on the assumption that the most direct pathway would have been pursued... but at least this settlement had been destroyed at a time when Qadira had been at peace with Taldor. They weren't sure about the sorrowflow dates but it was probably later... but the damage looked similar.

Someone had intentionally attempted to use bound elementals here.... so at least on that account there was something that Vordakai could investigate... but it was unlikely to yield them any answers quickly... but excavating the settlement could be relevant to Iobarian history during the late Taldan golden age, as well as provide a sight in the east for the realm and a place for future expansion... even if it wasn't cyclopean in origin. It did leave Eire wondering exactly how quickly the Taldan frontier in Iobaria and in the far north east of Avistan had started to roll back even before the elves had returned... presumably it had started even before Kyonin had returned in 2632, but that had probably accelerated weakening of Taldan central authority by exasperating the divide between an eastern and western focus. They were relatively sure that Sorrowflow had been destroyed between two thousand years ago and twenty five hundred, and that would put the destruction, in the more recent scale, contemporaneous to the elven return to golarion.

That very well could have been a coincidence. Still it would bear investigating both sites, and developing both to support the realm.


--
Notes: Necessary lore dump, but this also leads into among other things why Narland had certain mounted military units that it does, though they're often small units in the case of bulletes, or wyverns in the future.

Also because there aren't Paladin military formations in Narland, in contrast to Lastwall or Mendev because despite the cathedral to Iomedae (and this is in the future) Narland does not have a lot of Iomedaen paladins compared to other professions, which is unusual since Iomedae is the paladin cliche, where as Narland's military is principally centered on heavy infantry, not to the exclusion of knights or mounted units, but we will get there. The primary reason though is population diversity, most of Narland's cavalry are 'ethnic iobarians'.

Anyway the next three segments cover Densus 4713 in the east of the realm dealing witht the management of Varnhold's charter areas.

I do wish to state that I'm not current on second edition lore and changes, supposedly there are developments in 2E's timeline but I haven't read any 2E original AP yet and so I'm not sure if I'll incorporate lore from second edition yet, we will see.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Desnus 4713
The trip they had planned was one to work their way eastward across the domain. A few days here a few days there, but slowly moving to the edge of the charter boundary. The mountains to the north east were too far away, Silverstep was still the dominant northern feature, but their presence lay in the east. In a few days they would cross into the Varnhold since Vordakai was meeting them here. The withered lich was approaching slowly, measured strides more out of consideration for the heavy trunk he carried and no doubt its contents.

Eire watched as heavy steel plows and horse teams worked across the Royal farms. The dozens of fields, literally hundreds of horse were tending several different rotations of various crops. The steel plows were of a 19th​ century design but there were limitations that prevented him from implementing certain 19th​ century agriculture techniques, and certainly uniformly. The implementation of the three field system, and mold board style plows, and here more colonial, or early American agriculture four field systems and steel plows based off of John Deere's designs of the early 19th​ century provided the food which filled the royal granaries. The horses were largely from native herds that ranged the southern kamelands.

Together they allowed a small specialized, wage based royal workforce to provide food for the realm, and population growth, and control food prices. They generated an excess that was designed to support growth. The population of the realm to expand.

The giants, and their veneration of Erastil were not an issue. At least not to his farming methods... not within the giants iteration of the faith. It was the Brevic church of Erastil which, his new farming methods considered too new, and too different. It kept farmers working on royal institutions all year round really, and for wages rather than for their own crops. He had concerns that some of the brevic church bordered on Luddism... even though that term didn't exist he knew the royal system was not a typical feudal manorial system.

As monarch he was the largest landholder in the realm, which was itself an anomaly. He didn't have competition from the various churches. Not real competition. In theory Varnhold was the largest separate feudal domain spreading into the dunsward, but in royal recognition Maegar's domain really ended running south from Brevoy's official border, roughly anchored near Restov. That was still by feudal terms a large area over a thousand square miles a still truly voluminous patrimony for Maegar to rule over, but not the absurd grandiose dispensation of the brevic charter.

They produced other things as well. Potatoes particularly those at Candlemere, as Kaessi had noted, weren't just grown for food, they produced starch that went into paper manufacturing that paper then went into the printing presses.

Vordakai made no comment on the farms. "I have compiled a map from what survives of my records, and worked with Maestro Pendrod over other sources. While as we have confirmed the ruins in question are clearly Taldan, the the centaurs have verified there is at least one remnant of the old empire." He meant Koloran. "Given its size, and its location within the dunsward it is easily reachable, and should be investigated."

Eire turned. "Does it have a name?"

"The horses," The centaurs, "call it the city of hollow eyes. It would seem no one has managed to open the main entrance, but they speak of undead cyclops."

Hence hollow eyes... that made sense. "Does it have a Koloran name?" He asked but the withered lich merely shrugged.

"I am sure it did, but it would have been a small frontier settlement little better than a town at the time of the civil war breaking out. It is in the open grasslands of the Dunsward. It is to the north east of my tomb, therefore it lay south of Maegar's domain according to the map."

The artificial lines drawn on the map. That didn't really reflect significant territorial features. In the west were the tors which gradually descending into the wide open grasslands, and in ancient days would have been dotted by watch towers of ancient Cyclops and elves. "Do you think that any Cyclops still dwell among the ruins." Was there another Vordakai, a liche or some ancient other survivor.

"I do not." The atrophied lich replied, "The horses tell me that they would seasonally travel to trade with iobarian tribes both horses and human barbarians among the ruins. The 'city' as they call it lacks any of the associations with the valley of the dead among their people." the nomen centaurs, and probably their thundering hooves forbearers had suffered significant loss of historical culture at taldan hands after all. "I would doubt any of the degenerate descendants of my kind would stomach such neighbors, unless of course actually brought up in a human tribal band. Then perhaps, but the horses mentioned nothing of the sort."

They were going to need to reconstruct the ancient network of watchtowers, build fortified... burhs for lack of a better term, along the frontier and roads to shape trade that came in from off the steppe. The idea was both security and economy. Routing trade along a specific route would insure that it passed up through Varnhold to Restov, and also didn't intrude into the lands of the centaurs, the horses as Vordakai tended to call them.

Though clearly the Cyclops was merely looking at political frameworks of an iobarian model. It would be very easy to brevic sensibilities to be traditional feudal gamesmanship. Though it would take time for the old taldan ruins, the blood furrows, in the dunsward to be cleared and explored, and to settle new people it still represented a royal investment into Varnhold's domain. Vordakai acting towards a move in his own borderlands would have looked much the same.

He decided to go ahead and address that, and, "Further that means settlement, and in practical terms," With a lack of civilized giants, "That means humans."

"of course."

Iobaria had giantish populations, but hill giants and frost giants were unlikely to be found along the steppe. He doubted the trolls would be found. Eire didn't know enough to comment on the habits of ogres, and thus really the predominant human ethnicity to the south east of them was like to be the horse lords and their mounted pastoral nomadism along the low valleys, and high plains along the caravan trade

... and that Eire would need a survey to help plan, but it did remind him of how odd Golarion was in ecological diversity... the ancient azlanti and their contemporaries made things so strange to plan for in terms of agriculture.

Vordakai asked if there was a problem. "No merely considering the scales." The time frames of Golarions history, the distances involved. It was a lot to deal with.
--
They absolutely weren't going to call it 'the city of hollow eyes'. That just wouldn't fly. It wasn't really a city either... it might have been the remains of one, from the ruins certainly it appeared to have had centralized palace lead administrative centers, thus distinguishing it from a town... but the modern locale was more ruins, and gathering place rather than long term permanent town It was a place to trade seasonally, and little more.

In a similar fashion to Shrikewall's castle, the footprint and height of the buildings was somewhat misleading. The ancient cyclops had had to build their floors with tall ceilings, large arches, and supports to support them and thus while exterior's were tall there weren't many individual floors... and this had been constructed late in the empire's existence with only limited structures having magical supports integrated into the construction. Most of the town had succumbed to time, the elements, being broken into probably starting with marauders during the cyclopean civil war looking for supplies but certainly as others had moved in in the age of darkness, and through the age of enthronement. Maestro Pendrod was certainly going to want to visit, but that would have to wait until they had secured a foothold in the region... but that was in itself relatively easy. They had the centaurs to levy a claim over overlordship, and enforce a standing guard until permanent connections overland could be managed.

Officially Eire had marked the Hills of Nomen, the southern half of the Icerime peaks that formed the eastern official border of Brevoy's real territorial extent should be their practical border. It was a nice solid territorial claim. It was from the Hills of Nomen that the Shrike flowed down that further justified using its geography as the hallmark of the realm. The Castrovin sea similarly an official territorial claim... even though in practical terms Eire didn't expect them to reach the sea for many years to come.

In equally official terms he had enfeefed Maegar's assimilated Varnhold into an area of a thousand square miles, a large duchy, and similar areas for the Nomen and also nominally an area in the south Vordakai was to administer, which was where the 'city of hollow eyes' lay.

Xamanthe cantered up, skittering to a stop to the opposite side the cyclopes stood, but more than anything looking concerned, beyond simply unnerved by her former undead captor. Eire's eyes set into a narrowed scowl of quicksilver slits, "I take it there is a problem."

Amvarean and Shaoyu had not joined them for this outing. He had allowed Shaoyu to remain at Silverstep to observe Amvarean's efforts... especially given developments in demographics so to speak regarding the area he had enfeefed the silver dragon. "there is a dragon." At his no doubt rather 'of course there was look', and the more pressing detail was what kind, the young centaur warrior continued, "Its huge," That wasn't helpful, "blue," Xamanthe was at an obvious loss of words, "With scales the color of open sky. I happened to overhear the human tribes speaking of seeing it come down,"

Further questions followed, apparently there were a mix of Kellids from Numeria they had set up a camp, but they didn't seem here tor trade, instead investigating, 'looking to loot', the unopened great chamber of the cyclopes in the center of the city. Xamanthe said they were Tiger Lords, but that there were also other tribes around some from the Kara people of the south east. "Show me."

For Xamanthe Huge was something of an underwhelming context. Certainly the long serpentine form of the blue was large, but in truth the wounded dragon was not much larger than Vordakai was, and smaller than elder Hulthrak, who had wrestled the bulette Kankerata into a magical steel pen to contain the creature. More to the point though the blue dragon's wing had been raked by a potent acid... and given the pattern... from a larger dragon, a black.

The injured male arched his neck, "Ah guests," The motion reveal the ragged acid burns continued across the side, "Please come closer, don't fear we can help each other." The words were spoken with painful effort and with a cautious look thrown to the side. The blue dragon regarded Vordakai the longest whether because he was in such a mixed company of centaurs and humans or because the cyclops was a liche or ... because both.

"It is generous of you to speak Taldane, but unnecessary." Eire replied in Draconic, "What brings you within my hold?"

The blue's head raised slight and he inhaled cautiously, and then attempting to straighten and fold his his wings back... not easy to do given the torn ligaments and damage to his side, then looking down to the earth. He sighed, "Only my determination carried me this far. Damned Ilthuliak ..."

"Ah I see. I am afraid I have questions then, as the witch has attacked one of my retainers previously." He replied.

The dragon blinked, and gestured to his wounded side, "Yes, her acid still burns me, I cannot travel further on this wing, I cannot dance in the sky any longer."

"Then I would be a poor host." Eire replied the healing magic filling the remains of the ruined cyclop's home. The blue dragon sagged in relief as the burning ceased. "Still I have questions, as well I should say will Amvarean, and Eranex."

Vordakai seemed to be barely concealing laughing at the polite adult blue dragon's growing borderline alarm at the situation that it found itself in. His eyes had widened at the names of the two silver dragons and glanced at them in turn.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Desnus 4713
"Oh my goddess, I can't believe I missed meeting another dragon." Linzi declared her outburst rattling the table and the cups of tea. The new settlement whenever it could actually be called a settlement would need a temple to Desna It was something of a compromise position, a consideration for the centaurs... and truthfully letting them preside over it or not Desna was likely to be popular with many of the humans likely to settle here.

Here would still need a name, but that wasn't the immediate priority. Unlike the realm at large whatever this settlement took, it did not have ready proximity to a body of water that directly connected to the broader Sellen network. It was surrounded by grassland, which was also true of the Taldan site to the north but it was close enough to Varnhold, a couple dozen miles, that a wide enough highway could be constructed to address that issue.

Eire shook his head, "You have not missed meeting another dragon." The blue, Mitharius, was currently in discussion with Amvarean and her half sister... which rather certainly assured that it was unlikely to attempt an admittedly already unlikely double cross.

"I missed you healing an injured dragon." Linzi remarked still very put out, even as she stole a look in the direction of the three, really four, human form dragons.

"Yes, well I find first aid is best rendered as soon as feasible." He replied... and of course any details the blue could yield about the black dragon who had at least temporarily killed Amvarean in her own lair none the less was important. Ilthuliak would need to be killed, and killing a black dragon of wyrm age would require preparation. Regardless of what powers he could call upon...

Not the least of which would be finding where the black dragon made her nest, you couldn't kill something you couldn't find... well theoretically with enough magic you probably could, but finding Ilthuliak's lair would be better.

He just hoped Ilthuliak wasn't in the Hooktongue slough.... but he knew for certainly the black wasn't in the Narlmarches proper ... which suggested that... maybe she was responsible for the blockage of trade going up the East Sellen River.

Linzi didn't seem to realize the potential danger of that being the case, and he wasn't going to draw attention to it. There were some details they'd just have to wait and see what panned out, and if she was more focused on the heal injured dragon then that was fine. They still needed to investigate the cyclops ruins, which as it happened seemed to be also what the Tiger Lords had come here for as well.

Vordakai cleared his throat to signal he was going to speak, "I have investigated the site in question... the door remains intact as a result of surviving wards... but while I suspect some lesser, and most likely ravenous undead remain I sense no signs of a guiding intelligence." There was a pause, "Maestro Pendrod will be joining us shortly, I hazard that his excitement has exceeded prudence... but the site is very likely intact inside."

Deciding he wanted to make sure "You are certain there isn't another cyclops inside?"

"I do not believe so." Vordakai repeated, then with pointed consideration, "Given that the wards, and sanctuary within are intact it is possible, but improbable." What Vordakai meant, was that this was not like his mausoleum in the valley of the dead, while there were probably more dread zombies here, and traps besides there were no indications that a necromancer, and not a lich had used this town as his base back in the final days of the cyclopes's empire. "Whoever was entombed here is likely dead, and if undead, one of the ravenous unthinking brutes."

The Tiger Lords warily watched them... the blue dragon had taken on a human appearance of a blonde ulfen or possibly northern iobarian man. Aecora knew there were living Cyclops in the area, but in one of the few agreements she had with Vordakai had concurred with his dismissal that they were barbarians... in the sense that they either didn't practice magic, or couldn't Eire wasn't entirely certainly which of the two Vordakai found more offensive to his ancient sensibilities.

The condition of Iobaria's remaining Cyclopes population was unfortunately a potential security concern. If it wasn't one thing it was another, since of course it wasn't just Cyclopes, it would be hill giants. It would be potentially more spriggans, a rival centaur tribe was also in the realm of possibility. This was the frontier with Iobaria... regardless of where the actual border was it was more of a porous frontier than fixed standards of an industrial, or even the borders between territorial monarchies. Brevoy had been the nearest thing in this neck of the woods, though technically farther south was Galt that had the history having been a province of Cheliax, and then Taldor before that.

Vordakai glowered a milky white, monocular, glare at the carved stone door, and spoke the word of opening. There was some scratching, and then the grinding of gears as it slowly forced itself opened after thousands of years sealed shut.

Shaoyu hissed drawing her longsword as the first of the zombies came out of the now open doorway. The creatures fingers were broken, and barely attached, and it looked like it had literally been gnawing on rocks or something hard for what little broken nubs remained...

...or had remained prior to a wave of flame burning away its skull.

Still Shaoyu had the right idea, and Eranex followed suit cracking another dread zombie's skull quickly with her fey touched mace even as more shuffled into daylight. Silver longsword blades formed whirling barriers of blades five feet from the entrance that tore through limbs, and giantish torsos as several more dread zombies rushed forward.

By that point the Tiger Lords had decided to join in brandishing greatswords to assist in dismembering the eight plus foot slavering undead.

"I take it this must happen often?" The erudite polite voice questioned.

"Yep," Linzi replied to the blue dragon's question, "Pretty much all the time, isn't it exciting?" The halfling squeaked. That was probably not the solution the blue dragon masquerading as a wizard was looking for, but accepted it with some reserve. It was interesting that Mitharius was an elven name, but he took the form of an Iobarian... or skaldic human.

He actually suspected that this was as close to a strong face in adversity that the blue dragon could muster and was probably a little worried about what he had found himself in, trading near death for a complete lack of grounding as he wandered into the unknown.
--
Maestro Pendrod arrived from Varnhold as part of a train of guardsmen and craftsmen atop swift ponies. The brevic horses supported small wagons with only limited beds and goods, but it was enough to stake some eight foot poles into the ground, and with the centaurs' assistance furnish a very basic protected pavillion... not that it was really necessary Desnus's weather was quite mild, and while it was warm in the day the breeze and dryness of the steppe heat was quite pleasant.

Pendrod was almost depressed seeming at having missed the opening of the structure, though Linzi was quick to fill him in on all the sword swinging, swashbuckling against the zombies after. More than that though Pendrod intended to write to his home institution in Oppara about this most latest, and most intact Iobarian find. As part of the professor's agreement with Vordakai, he had agreed to only ascribe work to 'members of the local aristocracy of the kingdom' going quite far to avoid stating that Vordakai was a Cyclops never mind a withered lich, never mind that he was from the ancient and now deceased empire originally.

Instead the Taldane academic community just probably assumed that Narland was a collection of strange weird people with absurdly esoteric hobbies... or something like that. For the most part none of Taldor's nobility seemed interested in in travelling beyond the gilded city and most of the immigrants of Taldor were from 'the unbearded' or were minor nobility or aristocracy affiliated with the religious classes, which admittedly did include a part of the church of Shelyn from Taldor's domain... but that was a potential headache that he would have to deal with later in the year ... when they inveitably brought up the condition of the shrine of the Golden Grove.

"This is amazing." Pendrod declared spinning around, "So many artifacts you could have an entire museum and still be able to support exhibits to other institutions." And Pendrod was really only talking about common goods. The everyday knicknacks of daily life that had filled the main spaces, which were unique perhaps only because of their artwork, and the scale, being meant for giantish folk's hands.

Speaking to Vordakai, and not loud enough that he'd be overheard, "He something of a point, a museum is not the worst idea, and truthfully we will need institutions of higher learning of our own."

The cyclops paused considering, rather than rejecting the idea out right, "I would have expected Hereford, or Silverstep to be the more likely sites beyond the capital." And he wasn't wrong, but there was already a growing disparity between frankly in population terms Candlemere was more populous than Varnhold, as was Olegton. Varnhold Pass was roughly comparable to tatzlwyrm.

"Its a matter of settlement, as well as economics." They needed to be able to create a route through Varnhold that could ultimately route north and allow the caravans to pass to Restov. Eire paused, letting his mind catch up, "Something to plan for next year I think, there is," There always was, "so much to do." Armasse this year would require him to be out of the country. That was going to be the telling thing.


--
Notes: this is one of the divergence points: In the AP Ilthuliak has relocated to the Brantheld mountains, which ecologically for Black Dragons doesn't make sense, before she relocates to Nyrissa's domain in the First World.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Desnus 4713
[Spring Conclusion]
Among the more pleasant surprises of the Bronzeshield fortresses, though in hindsight one that shouldn't have surprised him at all, was the fact that the dwarves had long ago developed a track system for carts for use in moving supplies. Better than that was that the dwarves had already used steel rails rather than iron, or wood. Obviously, in hindsight, the latter would have required importing trees from the surface, but the iron option would have been more brittle than steel, and required replacement more frequently, as well. It among other things gave him an example by which to show people what he meant when he talked about railroads.

The dwarves had never applied their rails to overland movement, never mind the transport of goods overland across significant distances instead relying on traditional middlemen arrangements to caravan such goods to market, or simply selling their wares at dwarven markets locally. Given what little Eire had gleaned, from his limited exposure, to the dwarves of Golarion, or at least Avistan, he could still understand why those changes hadn't been made.

Tracks in a mining, rails in a mining operation made sense even with manual power, before you introduced horse power. It facilitated significantly less resistance, allowing much greater loads, which had additional benefits in organization of the mines, and processing. The dwarves had simply never taken it to the next step... at least they hadn't by all indication but that might have been just Brevoy, or possibly Avistan more broadly.

Maegar dressed in a coat decorated by a circle of four hatchets, the symbol of the Issian house of Varn coughed slightly, "Maybe we should go back to the blue dragon." and the fact that the blue had decided to leave south east of the realm departing into the Iobarian Steppe.

Shaoyu scowled and crossed her arms, "He all but fled over the border, it was embarrassing to call him a dragon." She snapped.

Maegar blinked... with a suffering sigh shook his head, "That wasn't exactly what I meant little miss."

Amvarean hoped, though Eire was himself skeptical exactly how successful it would prove, that the blue dragon would be as good as his word and that he would invite a mediated settlement to prevent fighting between metallics, and chromatics, at least further, fighting, in the eastern lands beyond the border.

Eire put his tea cup down, "When Cheliax fell to the infernal house of Thrune," and a part of him was glad that Thrune had taken that as their official title for the sake of it sounded offensive otherwise, "there was an exodus, a migration which has the likelihood of creating a problem on our eastern frontier," I.e. The former lands of Varnhold's charter. Without the annexation following the vanishing all Maegar would have had warning of would be little more helpful than the advice to be polite to dragons, and that they were a potential concern but without real details. "Amvarean is correct it is in our best interest to provide a peaceful sanctuary to cordial dragons, it is," was even more, "undesirable to have a dragon war on our eastern steppe especially in light of encouraging the caravan trade to come through your lands and to Restov."

"... well when you put it like that..." Maegar took a sip from his stein of beer, "What about- the flying ship?"

"I have to return to the Kamelands to oversee the fitting out, and I will be in Mendev for the opening of the Fifth crusade." He remarked, "While I certainly support the war against the abyss, it will provide the realm the opportunity to export excess grain, and animal fodder and eventually other goods, and it will likely facilitate the necessary connections to encourage further migration," Human capital to provide the labor force necessary to operate standardized works, "And that it why roads need to be built in the Dunsward, and to these new settlement sites before then, and to standard dimensions.

He didn't have time to build steam engines... and frankly even with the diagrams and understanding of chemistry the earliest ones would likely still be used to run pumps not motive engines.

There was a lull, and then he nodded, "How are the Osirion Pharasmins settling, in I know that their doctrines are ... a little different than Brevoy?" and the practices of the Brevic church.

Maegar shrugged, "I mean they drink beer so I don't have any complaints. I admit they're different than what I was expecting, but having a church of Pharasma reassures the peasants, and they really needed it after what happened."

"That is good to hear, truthfully if this caravan," city was the wrong term, "business is to succeed, then we need to take steps to prepare for it. Desna, as well Abadar I think... I will speak to Arsinoe when I return to Shrikewall." Maegar interjected with a question, "Yes she is an Aasimar, though I feel its something of an exaggeration to say she follows me everywhere in the capital." He steered the conversation back and pulled the drafting documents over, "These rails need to be run at the labelled angels along the slope from the mines, you can pull them from horses, and these, also use horse drawn power but the winch is what pulls the carts themselves."
--
Eire looked over the eastern skyline... his eastern skyline. The prospect of kingship was different, and though it was less pronounced than in Shrikewall, the Varnhold ... the dunsward exhibited similar signs of contact with the first world. The overlap...

... among the contents recovered from the 'city of hollow eyes' sealed vault had been a map... border gore was an accurate description of the divide between Cyclopes and elven outposts in ancient times... it explained the various ruins though. Why there were elven ruins so close to Vordakai's tomb, but that there were also cyclopes tombs, and towers, and other remnants north west of Shrikewall in what were today ancestral forests.


It was important to remember that Koloran had been founded by those escaping Ghol Kan, they had been immigrants... and an immigrant expansionist empire flowing out of the iobarian steppes. It raised more questions than they had answers to. The only possible survivor of ancient cyclops culture seemed to be deep in iobarian as well, the island of Iblyos, but such investigations would have to wait.

"I didn't bring the matter up with Maegar yet, but it occurs to me Drelev and Mivon both claim the slough remains blocked. Drelev claims more giants than we know fought under Harrgulka banner ... and, there is the possibility Ilthuliak is in the swamp."

"It is the natural dwelling, and it would not be remiss for one of the Vutha to subjugate malicious creatures to disrupt trade." The swamps to their west had all manner of potential lackeys for a black dragon to lord over... not just trolls, marsh giants, and boggards came to mind and the list went on. Amvarean recounted a lengthy list all the same.

"If that is the case, I would suspect its only a matter of time until it becomes something we have to deal with. For now all we can do is face one task at a time." That meant the crusade, and what was to be his first real foreign trip abroad as a ruler... visiting Restov really didn't count since ... and visiting Mendev would be his first trip as monarch in his own right. "As I mentioned to Maegar before we turned to the possibility of the dragons displayed from further west by the Thrune ascension, we will need to take the examples from the Bronzeshield fortress and have our metalworkers emulate them."

It would be impractical to use the same mana plant driven engines as the airship. No they would need simpler steam engines. Wood fired ones would work, as would coal. They could make 19th​ century American engines run off soft coal while they continued to search for anthracite... and of course the other option the more long term comprehensive magical option was electrification of some sort, or just out and magical steam power.

It wasn't that he expected an immediate result. The goal was to relink the Road of Shields on their western flank. Ideally they would be able to link that to the capital for the transport of goods, but the river network of the Sellen largely meant they just needed the goods of the Road of Shields line of fortresses to transport to the Murque River terminal at Hereford. That would be sufficient.
--
Notes: This is somewhat abridged, and I may actually take a week, because we start summer 4713 in the next part and I need to focus on the material of the two adventure packs that take place in 4713. Snows in Summer is loosely touched on next update, and of course the beginning of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade (and the events of WotR) begins on Armasse.

One thing I will need to touch on further though is the work on the Road of Shields and their constituent fortresses over the course of the second half of 4713 and into 4714, which is where we will also explore some of the perks and other things.

 

[Imperator Pax]

27 Sarenith 4713AR
The Summer Solstice was the longest day of the year and one celebrated by numerous churches and faiths. That meant the disturbance had been noticed quickly. People of course took note of the odd development of snows in summer.


The 'disturbance' being the sudden formation of portals of cold and ice, and with winter fey abounding through them... well Eire had initially just assumed that this was some First World catastrophe and was to be dealt with like every other mess the first world tried to inflict on his realm.

... having human prisoners to interrogate who weren't cultists or druids or such... forced a reevaluation of that initial assumption. He wasn't sure if that made things simpler, or more complicated that this crisis did not involve the first world. It also forced him to reconsider any efforts to hunt down and destroy the black wyrm Ilthuliak in the face of a much more immediate threat.

The call had already been issued to alert the garrisons of the other towns, but not to summon the army... or to attempt to assemble a general levy. They didn't have enough information yet... and from the look at the way the snows were limitted really to just the immediate vicinity of the portal, and was largely not sticking to the ground he suspected that this attack, this invasion had not contended with the realms closeness to the first world. The summer months and the summer sun held winter at bay... so perhaps they were lucky that this incursion came at midsummer.

Still they would need to be on guard against any further portals. Thus they stood here with the Irrisseni invaders bound in cold iron manacles in front of the portal in soggy grassy from melted snow.

He wondered if they couldn't do something ridiculous like reverse the polarity and force summer's fire through to this realm of eternal winter but one thing at a time. "Kean?" He asked the fey touched frost giant.

"It will be much colder on the other side." The giant nodded his head sagaciously. Amiri scoffed at this word of caution, but it was a valid point for those who had not been born in the far north such as the land of the mammoth lords, but Irrisen was a land unlike the Mammoth lords it was a land abounding with winter fey and in the grip of supernatural cold.

... from Eire had been told he was almost jealous of the degree of magic Baba Yaga had wrought to transform her kingdom ... from the ulfen kingdom before, but regardless of how impressed he was by the magic there was war to wage against Baba Yaga's daughter for this intrusion into his realm. The thoughts were punctuated by the drumming of his fingers along the stonework of the taldan fortification of the woods. "We can hold this side, and we will move from there." The Taldan explorers of probably of the fifth army of exploration given the bones and equipment of the dead buried here originally had had a small fortified camp here one more watch tower and small settlement abandoned and left fallow after Taldor's decline. It was functionally identical to Garry's patch of Taldoran stone work with little apparent care for the flow of magic and leylines... or maybe they'd all been built for that purpose... no notes nor records survived to explain the Taldan reasoning for their actions.

He supposed that would be one more thing to do... when there wasn't a threat of invasion hanging over them. Eire eyed the pulsing barrier of cold and then looked at the huntsmen. The fey nodded and lept across the border.

They'd follow soon, there were a few things to do first. Once they were across they would secure the other side using magic like create stone, and fabricate spells. The other side of hte portal lead into the so called hoarwood forest ... or at least on the fringes of the greet sea of trees that was Irrisen's largest forest. Indeed that was likely to put them within reach of the Irrisen border with the land of the Mammoth lords as well.
--
Kean's warning was well made. Eire was glad he'd put on the merino wool baselayers he'd brought from Earth to keep him warm... and it suggested to him a need to focus on raising sheep with such fine fibers for the realm once all of this was handled.

Smoldering eyes burned within the helm. The lord of the hunt rested a hand on his longsword. The wild hunt monarch was different than the usual sort. His features more draconic. Instead of green eyes or birdlike wings with leaves instead of feathers they showed wreathed scales and red full pupils. They had emerged near Tiressia's grove at New Colton soon after the Irrisen portal, and had ridden down the winter fey who had come from the land of eternal winter.

He didn't intend to depend on them. They had agreed to fight Irrisen's winter fey, and if attacked by Irrisen's other forces to retaliate but Eire was operating under the assumption that the specification of winter fey would leave them fighting the humans, and presumably most of whatever monstrous allies Irrisen's witch nobility had at their command. Cold iron flaming longswords waited for that battle, whether giants, or trolls, or winter wolves.

He looked over at the snowbanks as summer heat blew through the portal, and then through the pine needles and the hunters were away. Staring through magically augmented sight Eire felt a degree of change in his opinion... Baba Yaga's work was impressive, yes. That part of his opinion hadn't changed, but this was a land that fundamentally a magically dominated tyranny. For some inscrutable reason, or simply because, he couldn't be sure.

The nearest place of governance was about thirty miles to the north sitting on this side of the river. It was time to go find the local leadership, and express most strenuously their objections their Queen of Irrisen's intrusion into his lands. They left the stone carvers the handful of dwarven spellcasters to work their magic, leaving the tree line behind they began the advance to Kizobran to the north east.

Unlike Brevoy, or Narland it was hard to adequately describe Irrisen's settlement patterns. The lack of proper seasons effecting cultivation, traditional agriculture represented something well beyond what he'd thought... so Kizobran sitting along the river made sense... but that it was smaller than he'd expected. "Tradesmen?" He questioned.

"So it seems." Jaethal agreed.

"Try to keep them alive." He replied eyed the traffic along the banks of the Gullik river. He wondered if the Irrisen had known to follow the river when they had marched to launch their attempted attack on New Colton, they seemed at least to be well acquainted with riverine trade if not agriculture.

Jaethal nodded and directed his attention to the local church of Pharasma. He was actually surprised to see a temple to the Lady of Graves, but then supposed he shouldn't have been. He exhaled a breath, that was almost flame in heat. Snow turned to steam. She ignored it and gestured to another building

The construction looked new-ish, and in comparison to other buildings expensive, or at least less slapdash and dilapidated. The gingerbread style housing, as he thought of them, that was the norm of structures here in Irrisen were a sharp contrast. All the homes had gates around their enclosures. A pattern of decoration that followed from larger high status homes down to the small peasant dwellings in the worst condition.

Brevoy had a degree of distinction in architecture. Predominance of timber construction aside, Brevoy's houses varied with social status it was a feudal culture with multiple classes of people, but it was not serfdom. Irrisen was a nation of serfs.

He curled his hand and recited the poem in draconic. Flashes of red and white erupted in the pale gray skies as orbs of flame heralded the appearance of elder fire elementals... and in doing so, in expanding if temporarily his own forces, even putting aside the logistics of how they had gotten here, through a magic portal, was another demonstration of how Golarion, How Northern Avistan was not a copy of medieval Europe.

... at least not identical to Earth it wasn't. Eire recognized that he was a medieval potentate in many of the ways that mattered, but also that he was closer to being an absolute monarch those the majority of those kings of western europe and not because he happened to be the most powerful magic user in the realm.

His eyes narrowed in on the local place of concentrated political, aristocratic power... it was time to pay the local baroness a visit, and express his distaste at her liege's behavior. Once the local situation had been secured... then he would have to figure out what they were going to do from here.
--
Notes: I swear I'm missing a section, but I can't find it, but this takes us into the events of the snows of summer where Elvanna of Irrisen decides in addition to being smacked by the good idea fairy of betraying her mother (which is suicidal but understandable) to simultaneously provoke a fight with all the other realms of Avistan and presumably those of Casmarron, Tian Xia and the Garund (plus the other continents but yeah).

 

[Imperator Pax]

28 Sarenith 4713AR
The peasants of Kizobran had not dealt with an invasion in living memory. It had not been since the reign of the previous baron and baroness that their homes had been seriously threatened by hostile armies from beyond Irrisen's borders... and for good reason Irrisen's first line of border defenses were magical huts and and enchanted dolls, which the unwary might have scoffed at. The only potential danger were those coming overland and penetrating their security by luck and in small bands or being predated upon by the natural predators of Irrisen itself.

Predators that were keeping their heads low, and their presence shy under the angry burning sky above them.

By opening magical portals in the hoarwood forest the reigning Queen of Irrisen had sacrificed those prepared defenses allowing a foreign host, the first of what were to be several, never mind the many adventuring parties besides, to pour into the province bypassing the traditional defenses and along not just Kizobran but Waldsby, Ludovny and Dammartorp, Veshtak and Sosulka to all be threatened for the first time in ages. Never mind the prospect of them all being threatened simultaneously by separate forces.

Kizobran was typical of Irrisen settlements. It was only perhaps seven hundred, if that, souls. A dozen giants, seventy odd priests and armingers, and a collection of supporting forces were enough to shatter the defenders in a head on confrontation once the fire elementals had streamed down from the sky without winter fey to contend with.

They had taken a hillside near the river overlooking the town. Eire saw no more of the wild hunt fey, but he saw no trace of the winter fey other than their cold iron sundered corpses. Shaoyu exhaled a burst of black flecked flames in challenge. A challenge that was unmet. Resistance had ceased.

Brother Vaclav bowed, "Your majesty, Lady Mouri has wheeled to contend with a hag, she should only be momentarily delayed."

Hags were an unnatural phenomenon. They were twisted warpings of changelings. They were created by the ritualistic mutilation of changeling daughters by foul magic. It perhaps there for unfair, or presumptive, but hags were too often an irredeemable evil. Given the nature of irrisen he was not going to question the knight of trident's actions without reason.

If this had been within his own domain, or even within his neighbors perhaps Eire would have considered wanting an accounting... but not at the moment... and more than likely if Mouri was dispatching a hag in the field... it was because the creature had clear and damning evidence in its lair of malignant actions. At least he hoped that was the case.

"The barrier is weakening."

He nodded, even as the wall of force waned. A magical item most likely, not a true artifact, but some sort of temporary protection. Nor was it some specific feature built into the construction. It was a desperate attempt to hold out in expectation that some kind of aid was forthcoming... aid that clearly wasn't

The local jadwiga, the prisoners taken of the officers of rank had never had to contend with a serious foreign invasion. The almost universally silver blonde malfoy look as he thought of them had been surprised , shocked astonished even at the prospect of taking a frontal assault by heavy infantry a largely alien experience to the proud, arrogant lordlings.

"I doubt the baroness was expecting this."

"They will kneel or kneel in pieces." Shaoyu declared raising her nose in the air and crossing her arms over her chest. It might have worked better if her human form was taller.

He regarded the milling captives, and then turned to his ward. The young dragoness was right, though and speaking of Dragoness. Wings glittered in sunlight as Eranex swept down from the wide circle of flight she'd made over the river dancing through the sky into the land of the mammoth lords where they had pitched a secondary camp encircling the city temporarily. The silver dragon resumed half elf form.

The fey touched dragon looked at the failing wards. If the baroness had been intending to outlast them it wasn't working out that way. "There is no sign of Irrisen reinforcements forthcoming." That was good news that the settlement had no obvious sign of aid forthcoming.
--
Eire stared up at the sky, and not down to his muddy boots. He felt the pull of the first world. The nearness of it as it tugged at his very presence. Whatever magic that kept Irrisen in its eternal winter was it seemed to him tied to the first world... and if guessed correctly...

... then it was possible to roll back the winter by defeating the winter witches... something he expected the current queen either hadn't known... or hadn't really contemplated as being a reality... but as it was the hoarwood was experiencing... or at least this part of it was experiencing its first summer in literal centuries... and the summer sun was melting frost, and taiga... and though the woods were too wet and soaked by moisture to burn...

... the same was not true of seems of methane gas as wildfires ripped through the soil, and tore through the landscape. The chemical fueled firestorm was summer vengeance after fourteen hundred years of absence. The result was not just the wildfires, it was also an oppressive humidity that had replaced the cold. It was even in his opinion unpleasant, but was malevolent hell to anyone who had never known summer.

The Irriseni peasants, and especially their jadwiga overlords languished under the heat... any surviving winter fey were probably even worse off as summer made itself known too all around. To that extent though it was here in the open air beneath the great expanse of the sky and in this heat that Eire found himself holding court over the defeated population.

He turned a half step, looked over the horrible flooding that the gullik river was undergoing and sighed. Brother Vaclav had attempted to assemble something approaching appropriate to hold open air court... but that had largely fallen to the wayside. Most people here spoke either skald or less commonly Hallit... not that he was particularly prepared to address anyone in sylvan or giant even if there was a population to address.

They had a more pressing problem anyway than the crowd's inability to converse he intended to fix that with magic, though he'd be giving the speach in Draconic, but the truth was... they could not leave these peasants here in Irrisen. They had already been petitioned by a hidden priest of Milani to carry the population away... that the White Witches of Irrisen and Queen Elvanna would likely exterminate them rather than have it get out that foreign invaders had swept aside the border land and broken winter's hold...especially given what Elvanna was attempting to do to the rest of Golarion.

Other petitioners wanted them to push forward invade and drive a blade of summer's heat, regardless of how much the Irriseni peasants suffered under its sudden onset, into the cold bleak heart of Irrisen as a kingdom.

Eire was not prepared to march on the ducal seat, nor the Royal Palace at White throne to the north west. He didn't have those kinds of resources, he didn't have that kind of army, but given this sort of threat being mounted... he was already considering the prospect of having to revise his plans for a permanent standing army... but not today.

He looked over the several hundred Irriseni ranging from the peasants to the militia to the changeling witch who was their ruler, and in a corona of solar fire, and draconic malice he made his introduction. "We are Eire of Shrikewall, sovereign of Narhold." Pine trees cracked and burst into flame as their sap combusted as he outlined precisely how pissed off he was at having his domain invaded and this foolhardy attempt to turn summer into winter.

That speechifying though was posturing. It was a statement of discontent as much for his own vassals as it was if the Irresseni noble carried word to her duchess, or to her queen or to anyone really. They could not remain here indefinitely So as the long span of the sun through the sky approached its end, and night approached they continued to prepare.

Since they were going to abscond with more or less the sum of the population they were taking everything that more or less wasn't nailed down. That was something of an exaggeration, but if it had writing on it, if it was a book, a chart, a ledger, a map they'd take it with them. If there were goods they would take those too. He wanted to know more about Irrisen but he was also leery of what to do, and about the necessity of returning to the River kingdoms through the portal.

They would maintain a foothold in Irrisen for the time being, but... but he was still weighing what to do from here. In the mean time for the first time in fourteen hundred years, the summer sun beat down on the necks of the Irrisenni populace bathing the land in a humid heat.
--
Notes: The events of Snows of Summer is relatively short and we mostly will be focusing on its knock on effects rather than the fairly limitted military threat that Irrisen poses .... because Elvanna's plan is more or less attack all the major kingdoms of the inner sea and a bunch of minor realms at the same time and equally so Eire can't just march on Irrisen's capital of Whitethrone, and certainly not within a few days of the portals appearing.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713AR
He had had no shortage of petitioners even before leaving for to invade Irrisen. It was simply part of rulership. The line had only grown as a result of his brief absence. That applied to both domestic petitioners and foreign complaints. He'd actually been a little surprised that there hadn't been Irriseni petitioners on taking Kizobran, but some discussion on that subjected had revealed... well the reality of how the Jadwiga ruled, which was ... not benevolently to put it mildly.

The 'new culture' that ruled pitax, that of Castruccio Iorvetti, hadn't introduced olive oil cooking. It had always existed because it was originally a taldan cuisine choice. Modern Pitax, before Iorvetti, had not placed the same ... snootiness on the Taldan throwback's importance. Pitax had the current climate to support either form of cooking; butter or oil. It was on the far western fringe of the Rostlandic plain and was warm enough to support olive cultivation, but olives were vulnerable to cold. Pitax rarely saw snow within its southern lands and major communities... so the sudden Irrissen incursion was very likely a problem for haute coture food production.

He might have cared a bit more about the complaints of the merchants and travelers if there weren't more pressing concerns. That the olive trees might die was unfortunate, but he had other matters to contend with so he sent the men away. Probably for the best as the next petitioners were the ones that sparked a change from derision and skepticism to over the border hostility.

The supernatural heat from the young dragoness warmed the hall, despite the high ceilings that would ordinarily have abated summer's heat. "That's enough Shaoyu," He chided standing. "Welcome to Narland." He was careful not to take his eyes off the winter witch, but they were holding this conversation in common.

There was a curtsey, and an introduction. The newcomer introduced herself as the countess Bozena, of a domain called Bosorka. The winter witch sighed straightened and looked, tired, as she attempted to explain the situation in broad strokes. "My mother has taken leave of her senses. She has rebelled against my grandmother, even now has demonstrated this foolishness by chaining her travelling home, and impaling the bodies of her retainers," She actually used a Russian word, boyar, which caused Eire to pause at its loan into Taldan, and presumably Skald. "and those loyal to Baba Yaga. Even discounting that this is suicide with extra steps, she has also declared war on all other relams of Avistan. A war that Irrisen cannot and never could feasibly win."

For fourteen hundred years Irrisen had managed a foreign policy of trade, but guarded borders facilitated by feudal armies and magical sentries. Simply put Irrisen could fight the linnorm kings and perhaps overland armies from the Inner Sea...

"But by opening these portals Irrisen can no longer trade land for time, and allow winter to have its way on the unwary." Eire wasn't ignorant that fighting Irrisen directly would have required him to take the field. He had already done so intermittently ... but he didn't need to point out that if he could secure a portal, and anchor it to the other side.. then Cheliax and Qadira could certainly could, and they had the manpower to launch an invasion through the portals and march on Whitethrone. Either one of them could... and Elvanna had declared war on all of the great powers of Golarion from the sound of it.

What the Countess Bozena of Bosorka did not want was to be put in between her mother or grandmother, or for that matter a war her mother had instigated. To the point of leading an exodus to the portal near Kizobran with seemingly her entire domain on a ship down the river having apparently lied to those she passed that the fall of Kizobran was the reason for the movement of people... given the apparent crisis in the capital of white throne no one had questioned her. Baroness Wilimina of Coldwater had allowed them to pass unmolested on the way down the river. He was a little surprised that Irrisen did not have internal passport controls, but perhaps they were too simple a feudal society to develop such an idea... or perhaps questioning one of the queen's daughters , even one in nominal disgrace, was deemed foolish.

Whatever the case for fourteen hundred years Irrisen had seen a succession of rulers every century, and Baba Yaga had replaced each daughter in turn and taken with their mother her first generation. All things considered Bozena's fears seemed rather merited even without truly concrete ... her unwillingness to involve herself in a rebellion that seemed unlikely to succeed in the first place was clearly self preservation
On the other hand he was quite intrigued that Bozena had been allowed to bring her people down the river. Elvanna was it seemed too busy to respond to either their incursion but word had spread... streaks of the hoarwood forest were ablaze where foreign invaders had thrust through portals the queen had opened.

Soldiers from forest portals in Cheliax, and indeed the other kingdoms of note in the Inner Sea had come through across the duchy bypassing natural, and witch wrought defenses at the kingdom's borders and attacked the winter realm. Where Winter Witches, or the authority of Elvanna was defeated and put aside by invaders Summer broke through as it had when they had done as much. The Jadwiga Elvanna, and the rest of Irrissen's ruling class did not know how to react to the development.

So no one had seen fit to stop here. The portal was a gateway to freedom far from her mother, or her grandmother. What she could not offer was a way to close the portal.

"I speculate only defeating my mother might yield a way to do so, at least to defeat her entire scheme."

Which would presumably entail marching all the way to the Irriseni capital and putting it to the sword... something he did not have the resources for... no. He would have to hold what they held already and once other responsibilities were taken care of pool his resources with the other attacked nations to consider what needed to be done to resolve this.

Besides, as things stood Amiri seemed to be quite enjoying the prospect of managing the garrison on the Irriseni side of the border with a small rotating party of guards and fighters from across the realm.
--
Once the offer of bread and salt, and drinks as well were exchanged Elvanna's daughter was shown away and Eire returned his attention to the matter of the Pitaxian food shortage... or possible food shortages. It was not news that he particularly liked to hear.

If it proved only to be a problem for their olive trees then so much the better, but if it struck their wheat harvests for later in the year... then there would be a much bigger problem. He wouldn't be surprised if given tensions with Pitax any grain merchants attempted to take advantage of the situation from the brevic side of the border... but maybe Pitax could afford that.

If there was one thing Iorvetti did seem competent at it was maintaining bread and circuses for the masses... his people probably wouldn't starve. So assured of that much at least he could turn towards other matters. For the past several months there had been a pointed guard for and investigations of the technic league's activities and that would probably need to be maintained.

Brother Petros bowed, the chelish cleric was filling in for Brother Vaclav today who was at Hereford supervising the church faithful's efforts to redouble the defenses of the originally elven settlement. "A true implement befitting imperial power your majesty." The muscular war priest remarked as they walked the length of the drydock.

If you didn't know what you were looking at it would have been a ridiculous statement to make... but Petros wasn't brown nosing. The opposite the chelish cleric of Iomedae very much meant what he said, and had a conviction of steel...

... and in hindsight with good reason. When he'd started this project, leaving aside well magic he hadn't stopped to consider that most of Golarion, outside of the anachronistic windjammers... indeed with her gold writing on her prow Enterprise more resembled the later than the manowars of the chelish navy.

That she had over a dozen meters in length on a notable chelish manowar was another reason for Petros's favorable impression. That was because the manowars of the inner sea the great warships for the most topped out at sixty meters Enterprise at a fixed measure of ship eighty five... of course that came at a trade off.

Enterprise had been a learning experience for craftsmen. The alchemically treated wood and metal gave her hull and frame strength, but she was a mix of the two, built around a large and complex magical arcanotech engine, and supported by a complex crew.

She had no fixed weapons either... magical siege weapons could be carried but they were likely to be awkward as hell to actually use ... he hadn't seriously contemplated the idea of firing down on a target especially given the idea of doing so accurately.

The space taken by the need of the greenhouse holding the mana plant, and the motive force that gave the ship flight meant she actually had less space for people and cargo than a smaller chelish manowar... but she could fly.

He excused himself to go see what Jaethal wanted. The undead elf inquisitor had a responsibility towards well as he would have thought of it as internal security in the sense of counter espionage but as secretary in the classical sense of the medieval and early modern period Jaethal's role as a member of the council involved the inherent position of legitimacy of the government.

That included a lot of things ranging from public opinion management, surveying of what was going on in the countryside, but there were also internal economic components. Mostly because merchants were also basically spies often enough. Jaethal was also responsible for inspectors to make investigate other potential, maybe not criminal offenses but at least things that might be internally disruptive, and keep tabs on such thing.

This combination of both sorts of activities and other responsibilities meant, required something that was not adhoc, though they were not quite to uniform civil service tables yet either. The realities of the narlmarch meant that in addition to various eldritch tinkerers and scoundrels Jaethal required archaeologists and archivists , which wasnt new information but with the disturbance from Irrisen it did prompt her to contend with other issues.

There could be no questioning that the Tiger Lords had been becoming more active, that was evidenced by them operating as far afield in small travelling bands as the Dunsward, but more than that Eire had only been monarch for under a year. That was to say the actual pronouncement of kingship rather than lesser recognition as a sovereign if minor power. Eire did not like the river freedoms per se, the sixth river freedom was in practice much too close in his opinion to justifying brigandage and he didn't like not being able to levy tolls and taxes... he not fully dismissed them, but if the growth of the realm continued he intended to reiterate the dragon law's supremacy in written form to any traditions crafted further south that he had not been party too.

He nodded, "I suppose some degree of criminality is to be expected," Some of the bandits were probably just desperate but that was not excusable. He might have liked to spare Amvarean, but, "I will ask the clergy to provide labor for patrols in the west where possible, but thank you for bringing it to my attention."

"The Narlmarches aren't the center of royal agriculture. They could be just bandits, but it could be our neighbors or their agents."

"Either way you're correct that you'll need more manpower." He replied. He was glad, he doubted Amiri, or Ocatvia, or Regongar would have considered asking for more manpower... and there were days he worried Garess might not think he needed more manpower to tackle a problem.
--
Notes: Well I hit up my local game store and picked up the print edition of Book of the Dead it looks interesting... buying physical media for gaming is painful (then again buying physical media for academic purposes is painful).

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713
He had to write a memorandum. It was part and parcel of rule to explain things to the community at large. He didn't necessarily have to do it personally but there needed to be an official government accounting for why something had happened. It was just in this case he was doing more than affixing the royal seal on such matters.

The freak weather, no more a more accurate description the magical attack by Irrisen's ruling Queen was a problem. It seemed that as long as they maintained a foothold on the other side winter was kept in abeyance. That so long as they were occupying Irrisen's side of the portal Winter let go, retreating to a more natural passage of the seasons. That had probably hadn't been the ruling queen's intention, but it required them to hold a position lest they have to contend with summer snows.

There were other reasons. Irrisen was as much touched by the first world as his own lands. He could not permit the malevolent winter fey leave to cross the border. The portal though was inviting fey attention though from the denizens of the Narlmarches, and presumably from the first world. It was a headache that he had tasked Jubilost to keep track of, as possible. To be fair though Tiressia and Melianase would be assisting in that committee but there was the whole usual normal summer matters of the realm that needed to be handled.

The processing of erecting a kingdom was toil. In the medieval calendar and for that matter in the frontiersman calendar the summer was arguably the most active portion of construction. Most of the flooding associated with spring thaws had abated, and thus for the majority of human history in the northern third ish of the world this was the predominant construction season following into fall interrupted really only by the necessary agricultural duties.

There were immigrants who migrated north on the promise of being homesteaders. Much as settlers of the New World had in the early 19th​ century had to settle on the promise of the midwest. There was no travel across the ocean, and unlike the 19th​ century fledgling republic he didn't have that benefit of such a large pond. Eire would have liked that. There were other migrants though. The rule of House Thrune was only part of the motivation for religious migration.

On earth the Qing dynasty had instituted internal passports, and relied on language to isolate their possessions to a degree from influence. It wasn't a perfect solution but by restricting foreigners to entreports, and discouraging the learning of the Chinese language and generally created a system of bureaucracy designed to frustrate foreign relations the Qing had been able to buttress their rule over China. There was nothing like that on Golarion that he'd been able to determine from what Eire understood of Tian Xia as a continental landmass they had splintered into some kind of internal civil war or into disparate kingdoms... there were immigrants from Tian Xia but significantly less than those from the Inner Sea.

Whatever t he case there were plenty of places with plenty of reasons where immigration was possible so long as there was somewhere that could exercise a 'pull' factor. The River Kingdoms even without the river freedoms would have had a hard time enforcing border controls outside of very narrow geographic confines at least in a continuous manner.

Eire had the advantage that riverine traffic directed up the Sellen Network and to Candlemere and Shrikewall. Anyone wanting to immigrate into the kingdom from afar had no reason to avoid coming to the kingdom's center of governance, especially the religious followers of lawful deities. It wasn't perfect, and it formed the second intersection of the population administration.

Simply put not everyone migrating were pioneer types looking to carve out their own family homestead on the frontier. Those people who were needed to be settled in new farming communities, but there were other people who were migrating for other reasons and preferred living in towns.

That was useful, more useful than farmstead homes and settlers really, because Eire had structured the baronial farms with the intention of producing on an 18th​ and even early 19th​ century protocol of agriculture in terms of crops. The multiple fields system was ingrained at the original baronial conception steel moldboard plows as well. That meant being able to better support the townships that were growing east west laterally around the kingdom.

There in was the dominant focus of his summer court. He didn't have to worry about individual peasants needing to be directed to gather or harvest things... that would have been patently unmanageable. Indeed he had to rely on Oleg, Roy, and Amvarean, and so on to manage smaller fiefdoms. It was just a division of labor matter. Much as how the council was a division of labor. The Twins, and Valerie, and Amiri and Jaethal had different responsibilities.

Eranex shifted, she was in a humanoid form of her own, the same one she had confronted the ghostly fae frost giant that her patron goddess had exiled from her own realm. "My sister is verily pleased with the progress of goddly knights, the stewardship of the land." The half fae silver dragon remarked, and he was pleased to hear it.

Besides Candlemere Amvarean's domain upon the Lake was perhaps the most directly accessible portions of the realm from Shrikewall. It was also suitable as a location to cultivate the mana plants native to the first world, and given Amvarean's nature well Kyonin's elves were unlikely to do more than grumble. Amvarean knew her share of elves after all. It might not be enough in the long run Jaethal admitted that Kyonin was often slow to make decisions, but if they did... well they'd deal with any pressure from the elves when it came.

"And not to dissuade from that but I feel it would be best to contend with the Road of Shields, and its restoration."

"We do not have the labor to spare for it."

They didn't. There were too many other things going on this summer. Even with just the crusade, but if what they understood was correct, and Harrim was convinced, "There should be, the adamantine shield fortress, near the temple o the elk somewhere in the North Narlmarches." The Silver Shield fortress was in the Dire Narlmarches, further to the west, and the bronzeshield fortress had been Hargulka's temporary residence in the south. There were an unknown number of watchtowers dotting the landscape. There were references to a Gold Shield, and an Iron Shield fortress though the general consensus was that given the dwarven maps of the Shield wall the fortresses all built on their side of the border not Drelev's. That was probably simple natural geography the slough was not suitable to the dwarven deep underground mining.

Or, for that matter their halls.
--
Valerie walked the open boulevards of the capital's high district. If Maestro Penrod's theory was right the plateau had probably been settled by the ancient cyclops but well have had even earlier settlers, and when they were gone ... when the earth fall had happened eventually the Taldan had reused the sight. Only parts survived from those ancient epochs.

The Stolen Lands remained wild and untamed, but the connection of cities was slowly welding the realm into an actual kingdom. Not necessarily in the ways she would have expected it. Valerie had expected... well not necessarily an idealized frontier life but one where she might have been a bit more hands on in contesting goblin hordes, driving off orcish raiders.

Regardless of the charter laid out, recognized by the sword lords she had been realistic enough to know that the barony would have to carve out somewhere in the wilderness. A place with ready access to timber and farmlands, erect a hall, as they had done, and perhaps raise a motte and bailley castle once they had time. Seizing the Stag Lord's fort which had been built on ancient ruins had saved them time yes, but there were other factors. She would have made little consideration of the ancient ruins. Maegar's Varnhold was really what she had expected.

Instead she was here, standing in a city that could have been mistaken for having always been here. The Fortress Shrikewall had been built by giantish labor. That was true even of the interior where a dozen slag giants had made a steel interior frame of beams to support the structure, and plastered around the beams supporting the roof with high arches. It had a sort of timelessness to it that awed her former coreligionists.

Those same Sheylnites took the same myriad of forms as filled the kingdom. They ranged from non Iomedae worshipping halflings like Linzi, to Tian people who had brought tea and mulberry trees, there were others, like the storm giants who worshipped her as Syriss, and there were the Sthenos that Sheylyn herself seemed to have directed to migrate to the kingdom.

Her former mentor had claimed his majesty had the ear of the divine. Even now as Irreseni escaped through their side of the portal to freedom they spoke of Summer in mythical hushed terms, and the chains of winter being forced to give. That was she supposed miraculous. Jubilost made, however obnoxious the gnome was, an equally compelling point that it might well have been a facet of the ties monarchs had symbolically with the first world.

She wondered if monarchs were tied to the other planes if that was what had befallen the Rogavaria if that was how the House of the Dragon had disappeared so suddenly, and so completely. She was not however a wizard, or a scholar of the arcane, and her religious upbringing had never entailed contemplating such things.

Maestro Pendrod had no explanation either, but he had said that from the historical record of Iobaria that Choral had only been one of many great Iobarian war leaders and kings with dragon allies. Though not nearly as academic in his reply Kundal had agreed that great kings, in the Kellid Numeria sense, reckoned their warriors to include dragons and giants. At least with the latter Amiri agreed such was the case for the distant kellids of the lands of the Mammorth Lords.

She heard an argument and spied one of the, frankly annoying, street preachers who was embroiled in most likely one of Pendrod's colleagues from Taldor over apparently how something translated from draconic. The blonde, ulfen, wizard seemed very annoyed by the mistranslation of whatever it was, and Valerie felt the need to intervene before the street preacher potential made this more of a scene.

She strode forward and interrupted the two arguing men.

The ulfen wizard straightened and regarded the disheveled street preacher from the side of his eyes, "This one apologizes for such disturbance, I am Mitharius and am returning from a mission for your sovereign." The wizard replied in draconic.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713
She had been working most of the morning, as she did most days with her sister swapping over after the midday. The details might slipped by her... probably had slipped by her in previous months, but today was a little different.

Kanerah looked at the ledgers, stopped, and went back to check the ledgers of the previous month, and then the month before and only stopped there as Valerie entered the hall. She would have brought it to Eire, but... the blonde would do. The red eyed tiefling woman lacked some of her, well really any, of her sister's bright bubbly personality and faking it was doable but annoyed her and thankfully wasn't necessary instead she rushed forward to insist the Chancellor come over and insure she was reading the reports correctly.

"Look at this,"

Each of the volumes were heavy black tomes, they had volume numbers in gold script corresponding to the month, and in block script also the last two digits of the calendar year. This process of recording information had begun with inauguration of the Cathedral of Iomedae, which had drawn first with its planned construction, and then with its completion, migrants from the Inner Sea nations. Each monthly volume was inked with the names and origins of each new immigrant who arrived in Shrikewall and came to the seat of Eire's power after his coronation in 4710 of the Arodenite Calendar.

This had officially superseded the earlier record keeping that had gone into effect after the Restov coronation. In practice with the creation of the printing press the baronial ledgers had been gathered up and copied for administrative records, but those were less fancy books, manufactured and bound for scribes to reference from any of the, still nascent, ministries of the crown.

At the time the printing press had been finished there had still had been a view that the population was not necessarily consuming enough material that it was necessary for subjects to truly need a domestic printing industry of such capability. The press was for the sovereign's affairs more than anything... and probably in no small part to the amusement of the halfling bard. The press besides records also had allowed the promulgation far and wide of the realm's laws, especially once the kingdom had been proclaimed.

It was thus no secret that the realm had attracted a growing, and diverse population since the barony had been founded. That Eire presided over, organized, and directed settlement of the wild lands of the narlmarches, and the kamelands of the original Brevic charter. The ledgers made it easy to establish that many immigrated from the nation of Cheliax. What Eire described as a push factor, versus the pull factor of the new barony's promised freedom, and potential economic success for new subjects.

Valerie moved around the table and looked at the books, all of her immediate concerns about relaying the message of the Iobarian wizard Mitharius temporarily superseded in prominence in favor of Kanerah's observation of the realm's migration.
--
There were all sorts of metals civilization needed in order to make tools, and goods. This place was an example of that. The steam power turned belts that ran all the way up to the ceiling... but this was not just some kind of workshop, this was a temple to Brigh... and amusedly it was one of the few proper temples to the minor goddess in all of Avistan, save perhaps in Numeria to the north west.

Given the way that her clergy acted... it was hard to take the claim that goddess was one of industry... or rather industry in the terms he tended to think of, but he would not argue the point. Still Brigh's clergy had been useful in a variety of things really since Arsinoe had introduced them. Though he wouldn't phrase it as such he'd almost argue that they were probably more useful as problem solvers than Abadar's more numerous clergy were... but that was probably being unfair.

Abadar in his modern church was more a god of law than the Azlanti god of commerce and urban settlements that he had been before the great cataclysm of Earthfall. That wasn't to say he wasn't still a god of those things.. but the Master of the First Vault's church was less important to Narland than it was in Brevoy, and Brigh's church provided a kind of specialized labor. It drew wire and handled complex metallurgy. Things that the kingdom needed that Abadar's church just wasn't involved in.

No what really made the distinction was while Abadar's clergy did actually happen to have a form of double entry book keeping it was still a medieval form of it. No denying that was better than nothing, but it still lacked financial mechanisms that defined centralized banking and other organizational details that made a national bank a functional institution. There were institutional hurdles to clear, and potential conflicts of interest from banking and mercantilist interests that didn't exist with Brigh's clergy.

The result of this was that the Realm was willing to extend certain recognition to an otherwise minor faith. This temple this grand workshop of artifice and metal working differed significantly from the churches of the inheiritor. That was perhaps even an understatement for how different this building was.

Copper pipes. Steam cases. Vices, and punches. There were tables to work crafts, and drafting tables with protractors and paper. It was not an assembly line, but one of the things that royal administration had provided to both the Church of Abadar and Brigh were standard imperial weights and measures. The difference was what the two institutions of faith used them for... and in Brigh's case what their church did was manufacture printing presses.

They weren't to interchangeable parts yet, but they were moving in the right direction. They'd go to templates, and large batch production and work from there. They just needed more time. Time was in general what the realm needed to grow as immigrants continued to come, and so satisfied with things he returned outside.

There were other projects that needed to be done. He wasn't going to legally enshrine a royal monopoly on textiles... or silk production for that matter... but the truth was he didn't expect he would need to. The first was that he doubted there would be much natural occurring competition in the private ... not any time soon... and the second was that with steam power, with water driven power from the rivers the looms to turn silk would slow come up to the level of processing reaching early 20th​ century levels in machinery terms... but there was no way he'd have sufficient silkworm production to meant refinement capacity... so he wasn't in a hurry there.

Abadar's clergy didn't mind the patronage of Brigh's church... so far as he could tell... and they didn't mind the dirt, or grease.. but Sheyln's clergy didn't seem to share that opinion. In the fall of the previous year one of Sheyln's paladins, and specifically Valerie's former mentor within the church, a brevic knight had crossed the border in search of the Shrine of the Golden Grove. A marble wrought domed shrine built in the traditions of classical Taldor. Due to its geographic location, and not helped by its small size, it had been lost to the wilds far from civilization as it was. So, Ser Fredero Sinnet had decided to take it upon himself to ride south cross the border and find this lost shrine and restore it...

... well that wasn't precisely a well thought out plan, even without considering malicious factors... like Tulvak the hag who had migrated at some point from southern Brevoy earlier still after she had been driven out from the village of Nivakta's crossing on the south rostland road that ran along the banks of the Shrike river. In a world where gods were a tangible presence reclaiming a shrine was more than simple piety. It was not that the church of Shelyn was particularly belligerent, really the opposite the problem was the divine signage associated by the reclamation of the Shrine which created the institutional pressure.

Much as how Varnhold's subjects, who were predominantly Brevic expatriates had wanted churches to Pharasma to see to their spiritual needs... and most likely how he would need clergy of Abadar, Shelyn's church was a popular fixture of attendance and interest to migrants from the Inner Sea... that was in part due to the obvious. As the core of the royal territories took shape in the kamelands... and with agricultural reforms ranging from steel blows and seed drills... the settlements were urban not agricultural rural ones that would have other religious inclinations.

Not that he'd considered something like central opera houses but that might need to be considered at some point down the road... but at the moment he could hardly guess what Shelyn's church was particularly interested in doing... and he wasn't the only one. Valerie was not happy about the situation. Intruding, and intrusion had been thrown around, even as Linzi had wanted to praise the church ... admittedly she was still apart of the Church of Shelyn's congregation... but she could no more answer questions about what the church wanted than they could.

It was a rather bothersome... but it was part and parcel of the system.
--
Given the geography on which Shrikewall was built, with the cathedral on the prominence of the hill, and with the lake to its south, with the Shrike and the skunk rivers to its east and west, and indeed with the hills that the shrike cut through to the north east there were very few places to attack from... one had to come through the Tuskdale. He hadn't considered it all that important to raise a stone fortification ... a castle immediately.

That was less true of his Kameland settlements. The grassland steppe between the Gudrin and and the Shrike was arguably the most martial settlement of the realm. This was not Hereford, or any of the fortresses along the long abandoned dwarven road of shields. Here the baronial... now royal horse could be grazed, and raised, and indeed it was a place of organization. It was a place of administration and record keeping.

There were no farms tended by individual families. The whole given area belonged to the crown in a way that served a stately purpose. That would change with time. The variety of purposes for horses divided herds into specific specimens. Some pulled heavy steel plows, while some were intended for messengers, and others would be trained for military purposes. The majority were for the first, the most important factor in efforts or adjacent.

The rich thick black soil was plowed, rocks carved from its depths and relocated and careful measurements taken. It was not a collective farmland. It was a large organized royal farm, and unlike the original baronial farms in the Tuskdale there represented a step closer still to late 19th​, early 20th​ century north American farming in terms of equipment. It had been here that the first bushels of Iobarian wheat grown in the kingdom, winter wheat had been harvested. Winter wheat, Eire mused that that was something of a coincidence given Queen Elvanna's idiocy this year... and that he still needed to contend with the Irrisen problem... for he had a month until they needed to be in Mendev... for the opening of Armasse. Valerie was clear that from the sixteenth on she should conduct Armasse in his stead through the end of the month preparing and maintaining the realm's defenses, and that he would return from his journey to the crusader kingdom once matters were underway.

He looked over the summer fields, that far from the Narlmarches forests had not been touched by the Irrisen winter, and nodded, "We're doing well, you shouldn't need to contend with this," Actually well was an understatement. He'd have been happy with just the progress of their first year, but it was improving, still beyond the level of cultivation of the first world flora.

The almanac for this year's summer temperatures and rain would have to include a foot note marking this year as an anomaly of course. It would be important to make sure people knew that, that it was remembered... even if it was kind of annoying to the process of creating an almanac and giving them some idea of average rainfall.

There was one another matter here, Eire stepped away from the terrace overlooking his project and towards Jaethal, who would also be remaining behind. The elf frowned, "Valerie has sent word that the wizard Mitharius requests an audience at your earliest convenience. It would seem that he has upheld his bargain, and carried word to at least some of the dragons of western Iobaria, and the windswept wastes,"

"Oh?"

"I have a second letter from Amvarean saying she has been contacted by a silver dragon that she is on epistolary terms with regarding both his watching over Galt, and also Mitharius's contact with his convocation of fellow silver dragons at high summer. This dragon also apparently reported a portal to Irrisen is active in galt."

Eire nodded, and regarded his farmlands. He had questions about Iobarias nearest draconic populations... but of all his draconic neighbors the one he needed to concern himself the most with was slaying the black dragon Ilthuliak.

--
Notes: obviously this is a direct series of references to the shard and the perks from Crusader Kings 3 notably effecting the kingdom, what I am doing is using the Kingmaker perk of having kingdom effecting powers gradually take effect, in contrast to CK3's explicit test of 'You start with 500,000 refugees who may come from different regions from the setting.' rather than a large and increasing migration and perks taking effects, now that latter half of text, that is very much in effect, its just they're not showing up at the start in order to build shrikewall.

Otherwise Eire wouldn't be complaining about the manpower he'd be complaining about the logistics of feeding such a population... never mind the formal faith population. [I will hopefully be updating Out of the Dark this month, but also posting the text for the Drow Cyoa perks... and I also need to go see if the drow of the underdark jump ever got finished.]

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713
With many thousands of immigrants migrating from the inner sea and encompassing a startlingly diverse number of kingdoms across the expanse of southern civilization the prospect on its face should not have been all that unusual. To be requested by a goddess to provide sanctuary to a community was not all that surprising. It wasn't frankly even that outlandish a prospective given the activeness of the divinities of Golarion... the request wasn't an unheard of one.

It was ultimately the specifics of the requisition, it was the details more so than the resources of finding space for refugees displaced by conflicts or schisms beyond the boundaries of the Kingdom.

Sthenos were... snake women... they were like Medusae rather than meluisine, but were distinct from both. Apparently having rebelled against Lamashtu Stheno the First, namesake of the species had a century earlier prayed for Shelyn to deliver her from her previous goddess's wroth.

The result was well a new species and stheno's soul joining Shelyn in Nirvana.

This would neatly settle the matter of operating the church of the golden grove. Shelyn would provide clergy and that her faithful would make arts of all sorts for the realm as it grew. Linzi was naturally thrilled... Valerie felt perhaps not unjustly that her former goddess was putting upon them... but this had the potential to be useful.

The realm had a growing diversity of races. That was well established by not just Shrikewall, and Candlemere, but New Colton and Memphis to the east. Indeed, he almost might have preferred that Shelyn settle her refugees at Memphis... but it would benefit the Narlmarches and he could focus matters on Memphis... she was after all not the only god with temples.

Then of course there were the ones who didn't despite the growing number of adherents. Bastet had no dedicated temple yet. A shrine to her graced the entry to the Inheritor's cathedral to reflect the catfolk presence, but in Memphis and Candlemere the Osirion deities had needed their own spaces. Ra and Osiris might one day need temples of their own in the western districts of the Tuskdale. They were deities of famous Paladins and thus were quite friendly with the Inheritor's church. Osrisis clergy were also significantly more tolerant of unique undead like Dave, and Jaethal which was a distinct positive in Eire's opinion... though how they would interact with Vordakai well... that was a problem for another day.

Where Candlemere though held growing sites to Nethys, and Sarenrae in particularly Memphis... much as its name sake on earth held royal endowments to Sokar, Ptah, and Thoth. Admittedly the hawk headed god of revenge... was the least busy of the three... but Eire had insured he was at least present ... given Shelyn's involvement of late that might not have been the best decision since it almost certainly would draw the attention of either from the trio or... from some god he had failed to consider previously.

He paused drawing a contemplative sigh even before the inquiry.

"Your majesty,"

Eire closed his eyes... and considered the goddess Stheno had betrayed... and other details regarding Lamashtu... "Its nothing." He replied... which wasn't true at all... but if something happened... they would deal with it then. "Lets go see." He remarked.

Linzi bounced with glee as the slip opened. Heavy darkwood, and alchemical steel, and brass mixed... they had to use mixed materials. He would have preferred a more fully metal hull... but it wasn't practical. They were lucky that hte Narlmarches were such pristine woodland. The result was a ship that... well if he were honest about how he thought it looked, it was a steampunk packet ship or maybe a clipper of the early 19th​ century. Those had been the ship's of his Earth that had shaped his view of it, and that was why it more resembled the windjammers that did exist on Golarion

The question was would it work. Was it practical, could it carry them, and their dozens of tons of supplies to Mendev, and return them home. The clergy of Brigh and various others were confident. Giants had helped shape the timber latice skeleton, and work the steel after all.

It was industry of a sort, somewhere between medieval industry and the ort he was familiar with, and in many respects it verged into the early modern. Yet, there was no denying this was an arcanotech craft. It was the work of magic, and mundane crafts.

Three hundred passengers, and fifty tons of cargo. It was a flying ship, rather than an airplane. Not that Golarion was familiar with the later... a cleric of Nethys bowed, "Your majesty."

There were a number of safety features being considered... the life boats were well, basically small skiffs with featherfall charms. Indeed the life preservers were for all intents and purposes feather fall rings. It had taken research to create the spells needed to provide... magical gravity so in theory Enterprise could fly upside down, but Enterprise had not been laid out or intended to carry cannon so she was not intended to fight.

He stopped, turned as he ran his hand down the railing surrounding the upper deck of the shift. A part of him was linked to the Stolen Lands... but he'd seen other such connections to the land. Large, and small. Amvarean and her sister Eranex's presence effected lake silver step. To a lesser extent Tiressia and Meliasane were tied similar to how Maegar was linked to the Varnhold, and to an even lesser extent the spirits responded to Akiros.

He pivoted in his place, as the feminine form of the outsider took shape. The Arcanotheign. Nethys was ... frankly not lucid enough to talk to his own worshippers the Arcanotheign was one of his few servants who could really be said to be able to act as an intermediary for the mad old wizard god... that wasn't why he was familiar with the herald of Nethys. That dubious honor stemmed from the situation the twins had found themselves in, even with the disk that allowed them to shift positions at will.

Even without the levitation effect the gray skinned outsider was taller than he was, she was in excess of seven feet... but he supposed better the unannounced arrival of the Arcanotheign than the unanounced arrival of the devil called forefather... though if the Arcanotheign was here, that might not be far off.
--
Eire paced his solar as the summer sun hung high in the sky, "I admit its unlikely that the Arcanotheign has reason to lie." But it was somewhat absurd that in theory that this could be undone... but then perhaps not, they were talking ninth level magic... and more to the point they would be intervening so directly with the twins condition of existence it would attract Auferon's attention... which assumed he hadn't already noticed.

That was on reflection something of a large assumption. The truth was that while the Twins were an important part of the realm's administration their acquisition of hte disc had largely made their situation... well they had considered it somewhat resolved.

...and yet here they were discussing this. Certainly having both capable of operating independtly would have been a boon.

That was something to certainly work towards, but Auferon, the forefather, served Mahathallah who in turn was loyal to Asmodeus. He wasn't ready for that... and it wouldn't have been outside of the realm of possibilities for the Forefather to act through the infernal house of thrune, or at least through chelish agents.

The sand swirled underneath, the magical map refreshing. It was the original smaller realm map from before they had added the Varnhold and its charter to his own. There were days he wondered what it would have been like to actually been involved in building a settlement by hand from the ground up. The truth was as he absorbed shards he knew some of the power was investing his domain... it wasn't an entirely unheard of concept. Dragons effected their lairs, and he supposed that Golarion's wizards were probably capable of creating their own demiplanes at high enough level, and probably had a similar enough phenomenon.

Ramziran was a faker, a wizard playing god and the masked man was probably or at least Eire wouldn't have been surprised if his realm had some connection to the first world that bound him to his kingdom in some way. That was speculation of course. The masked wizard god king clearly had taken his realm by force of arms building on previous realms... but he was also far away so details were hard to be sure of.

Eire watched the sands solidify into their normal colors of the terrain, "If the arcanotheign is correct," Which was not potentially the case, but that seemed unlikely... most likely Nethys's herald was accurate, "Then," he mentally considered the calendar. Kean had been reincarnated of course... so the equinox... "Once we return from Mendev. Still it would be wise to exercise caution in the interim, we need take no chances." ... and he'd need to speak with probably the druids more broadly, and possibly Kean himself on things.

--
Notes: This obviously sets up for the twins getting their own bodies back, again I am disappointed that the 2E Companion book for pathfinder is lacking on covering some characters. This among other things would have been a good opportunity to dive into Jaethal's backstory in Kyonin, Pharasmin inquisitors, more dwarf content for Harrim, more Technic League backstory. Frankly it seems half done.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713
Jaethal dismissed her retainers. It was no surprise of course that the crown had once against missed archerfeast, at the beginning of the month. There was simply too much to do. It wasn't intentional but it, the feast, came at such an utterly inconsiderate time in their calendar, by being held so early in the seventh month of the year.

... admittedly the Inheritor's ascendance was a feast day Eire made a point of making time for, but the human clerics and clergy of the temple of the Elk didn't take that personally. The temples had been raised by the Taldane empire of yore, and it had been rebuilt by the barony before the transition there was little they could say.

Eire could speak of stone age humanity and the development of tools, of pottery, and agricultures emergence, but he was quick to focus on metallurgy and engineering... and even now Vordakai looked to restore the ruins of ancient cyclopean empires; that included astronomical observatories.

That wasn't itself a problem but where Erastil's church did not seriously present an issue to royal authority even if there were some grumbling the Church of Pharasma and in her particular case that of the Kyonin branch of the faith more so than the Brevic one had surely taken note of the decrepit Lich's presence. The church had officially disclaimed the half elf Enneo... but frankly she was skeptical of their response. It was all to easy for Kyonin to pass off a half breed's actions as not sanctioned. Whatever the truth, it fell to here to weigh whether or not Kyonin might associate or possess any information about Vordakai and the empire of old, and whether they might act on it in any reasonable timeframe.

... but the elven court would most likely be patient, and likely waited to see if the kingdom would survive on its own before moving one way or another. Though unlikely to ever be voiced in public, in a century she suspected her former homeland might come to regret such a policy.

The lich gave a huff intentionally exhaling air from his atrophied lungs. He spread his skeletal hands and manipulated the magical map of the kingdom, and it was what the map highlighted which was why. "Your forebearers were quite busy." An image of another 'elf gate'...

Because of course they had, the connection Narland had to the first world was prevalent across the realm, and of course there was the nagging suspicion that the aiudara's origins weren't quite what Kyonin liked to claim. Some were very, very old, and attuned to the first world... and of course that seven arches continued to defy kyonin was a point of contention within elven politics.

She focused far to the east, and the grasslands where the gate sat on the map "There is one out in the wastes?" She didn't bother asking if the cyclops was sure.

"I have confirmed it, but it existed in the time before the cataclysm and there are at least two or three in the west near the branfeld mountains, where there is a powerful connection to the first world." He replied.

Of course that well beyond their legal border. It was beyond even that annoying piece of worm food that claimed to be their neighbor... in fact it was part of the area allocated to the group of mercenaries who had disappeared without succeeding. The Iron Wraiths, and the Issian expedition before them, had vanished... "We may have mistakenly ascribed the disappearance of the expedition to the Tiger Lords."

"I view that as plausible, though the human barbarians might still have been responsible. We simply lack the evidence to definitively say." The ancient wizard remarked.

Jaethal looked the map of the realm as the sandy floor shifted beneath them. The river was the lifeblood of the country. There was a fledgling road network but the small towns and settlements all connected to a next level up of planned fortified regional administration. For the west that wasn't an issue, the Narlmarch was seemingly easy to plan around, for the east though to the windswept wastes of the southeast that reached all the way to the padishah empire's borders and to the far west to the shores of the Castrovin sea.

"As one can see," The cyclops continued, "The boundaries of the first world are thin, more it is very difficult in some places to be sure one has not accidentally crossed over." Vordakai stated, "And this continues I believe from my scrying all the way to the sea itself."

"Does this relate to Irrisen's attack?"

"Irrisen is not the cause of it, but I believe the actions they take against us stirs the boundary between this world and the other. I would need to do more research to examine if it is deleterious to the realm, but it does not appear to be." The cyclops responded, "Admittedly though not intended for such, the creation of these towers," And the churches to which each was to be attached, "will allow us to better view the magic of the realm."

Jaethal nodded and rested her chin on a gloved hand. The idea was on its face simple enough. It built off of an existing system of governance. Eire wanted a what he called a 'town'/municipal, county, province system to organize the villages and population into the tower and church arrangement was an expansion of a fortified 'burgh' principle. It was complicated by the goal of integrating advanced magic into it.

The towers were supposed to provide rapid up to date information about events in their region. They were supposed to facilitate words of sending, report any magical activity and to support the church attached to them as a rallying point for rapid movement. More importantly given all the ruins and other potential resources for the kingdom the towers were to be tools of royal authority across the kingdom.

It was however simply a proposed system. The initial tower within Shrikewall had not had its design finalized and it could be years before they committed to that given the need for labor elsewhere. Eire after all needed only to have visited a religious site to teleport to it personally... but the tower & church apparatus were intended to function more like the auidara did being able to transport groups of people who hadn't been somewhere previously.

"The idea is sound." Vordakai remarked

It was of course not how it had been done in the ancient cyclops empire, especially since they didn't have the number of giant wizards for that, and nor was it how the kingdom of Kyonin was organized... though Jaethal appreciated that. The issue of course was the limitation, and what prevented them from implementing it. Eire was himself a wizard, he could cast both, which was all well and good in Jaethal's opinion, except of course even for an undead there were only so many hours in a day. Expecting a reigning monarch to have the time to undertake that was unreasonable... they just didn't have enough wizards.

Wizards took years to train up. That was without even considering newly taken on foreign obligations, which tied the kingdom to the wider world of northern Avistan.
--
Amiri kicked a rock, and watched it skip into the great lake. Summer was waning but the six bears ... the small group of them still with her childhood friend showed no signs of decamping. Amiri did not like these 'Jadwiga' ... admittedly even in the lands of the mammoth lords it wasn't unheard of for the children of great lineages to have certain presumptions, to use Jubilost's word, but the Jadwiga 'boyars' had been shocked to face real resistance in battle, much less to be defeated in battle.

It was pitiful. Indeed the truth was of the Irissen following it was not the human warriors who were the challenge but their haste to summon reinforcements from their giant members. The frost giants and also the winter fey had come to join battle.

The stone giants had answered the kingdom's call to battle, which Nilak had unnecessarily pointed out that being able to call giants to battle indeed giant families from both sides placed both kingdoms on a footing of status far greater than most great followings.

Normal chieftans did not have the ability to issue calls to war and have it answered by dozens of giant warriors. Then again, normal chieftans often did not have to contend with a rival doing the same thing. It was not completely unheard of in theory a powerful enough, a legendary kellid chieftan or more likely a great elected war leader might be able to muster the treasure to sway a giant tribe to fight but that was not the same thing.

Akiros had, in discussion, agreed that even in the southern lands it was unusual for human kings to have the ability to issue such feudal calls... but it was not unusual for Irrisen Nor was it all that strange to hear from Iobaria, though Vordakai had scoffed at the latter example given the state of the followings in the east... but then the old cyclops was perennially, another Jubilost word, dismissive of the state of the eastern lands he hailed from especially.

Nilak was shaking her head. "We'd just be a handful of faces in all of this. Every day more and more people seem to arrive."

It seemed like it would have been the same if they went and joined the tiger lords, which was the last thing that Amiri wanted, given what they had heard. The Tiger Lords passing back west had bragged about the size of the growing following of Armag Twice born and his power, as well as the tribute that Pitax showered on them as gifts.

With tens of thousands of Kellid warriors the six bear following would just disappear. She might not really understand the number a 'million' a million of anything boggled the mind, but that was how Akiros had described the nation of Andoran a 'million'. It didn't matter that was accurate or not when she had been travelling she had seen how easy it was to get lost in the throngs of people of the cities of the Inner Sea.

It was in this context that Amiri was coming to terms with the end of the six bears following, "That is all you'll be," But... Nilak had to balance what changes she could make with the fact that Armag was a great war leader, with a large host of tribes already flocking to his banner. That Armag and his tiger lords had likely already brought even even if just on the outside other fragments of Six Bears and more than that that as a Kellid leader he would better understand the reciprocity expected of a great chief. She started to bristle, "I don't want us to be enemies Nilak," But she could feel it in her bones Armag would need to fight, the Twice Born had to prove his mettle. It was the way.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Erastus 4713
Eire frequently had to remind himself that Golarion was not Earth, and that he was not having to fight through the sort of institutional rpoblems the cultural inertia issues of either real medieval earth, or that of of real modern or early modern social norms. He was free of the poppycock romanophile pop culture view of the renaissance, but he also didn't have for its positive effects early modern nationalist sentiment to contend with.

There was no catholic protestant split or for that matter evangelical monotheism in a world where the god swere a frequently interventionist portion of society and a society that at large had frequent use of magic. At the same time though he knew from Shyka's realm that it was the early 20th​ century on Earth. Leaving aside that inadvertent time travel Earth was still technologically more sophisticated than Golarion... and its developed areas had better infrastructure. Was that a realistic concern... maybe... Earth was going through world war 1 from what he had seen.

It was something that weighed on him even if he wasn't on Earth. There were limitations to what his books could provide, but there were still benefits. He looked forward to interchangeable parts, the proliferation of standard sized clothes, and expanding the use of palletized cargo... all of it would make life simpler and more efficient and keep prices down... he was thinking long term about middle class prosperity and demand for commercial goods... and thus being able to finance the realm on the basis of modern taxation systems.

It was similar logic which impacted his efforts to enforce a grid like structure of urban planning, and also to introduce universal and compulsory education. That was, the latter was an issue even without a catholic protestant split. Officially speaking he had the advantage that no one expected him, and indeed would have been shocked, if attempted to implement even a henotheistic state establishment of religion. As monarch it was his prerogative, and the expectation was, to patronize religious institutions and in Golarion that meant a pantheon and plethora of gods, as well as lesser divinities... and in some communities particularly of the Inner Sea that likely would have included saints.

As nascent as the monarchy was, as young as it was he had a much freer hand into determining how a royally sanctioned pantheon was arranged... and thus Arsinoe and the church of Abadar had been levying efforts to ... most likely convey similar importance to their church as the vault keeper held within in Brevic society. Arsinoe being from Absalom didn't change that, a new kingdom or at the time an independent principality was a new realm all the same. Even so, the Taldan Empire had not been the Roman Empire, Rome could never have concioused the idea of Absalom remaining outside of its power as it did...

Eire gestured to the map, "The situation with Irrisen is concerning," The news from over the border with Galt and the disruptions that the nation of revolution had with its own harvest mirrored that of presumably Brevoy and certainly that of Pitax. "Silver dragons have little to worry about the cold, but Galt is already politically unstable," but not necessarily enough to collapse it, but enough that it could be a problem if everyone as having the same problem due to the same proximate causes.

That was one of the things Eire found most vexing about Golarion, and Avistan it was that the old the tired old trope of pop culture history of earth's dark age of deluded romanophiles pretending or wanting to believe that agriculture had stagnated or even regressed seemed to be true here. Admittedly it was entirely possible to say the lack of progress of the last century or so was the death of Aroden and the opening of the world wound devastating large swathes of farm lands and the Chelish civil war wracking prosperous western avistan, but it still vexed him all the same.

"But still Mendev." Jaethal remarked leaning over the paper map, and table of letters.

"yes still Mendev," He replied, "We've secured our side and have a foothold there," And from the reports that trickled in from wider irrisen it seemed that the reigning queen really had bitten off more than she could chew. Thus far none of the winter queens retainers had attempted to overthrow her but who was so say how long that might last. "I do not plan to remain," In the crusader state, "for a protracted length of time, "

"We share no immediate land border with Galt, so I don't imagine it will be a problem." The undead elf replied, but we do need to discuss the issue of other threats to the border. There can be no denying whatever this tiger lord barbarian intends to do he has amassed a sizable number of kellid swords to his cause, enough that its drawing attention from the steppe and that can effect our southern borders."
--
A part of Eire wanted to focus on commercial matters on the commodities exchange. There was a certain degree of comparability there that harkened back to thoughts of earth. The reality though was that outside of the great trade of luxuries and rare items, not limited to the magical item trade, there had yet to be a commodity revolution in Golarion It was unlikely anyone would slap tariffs on the volume of jeans he could export, but they might still be subject to sumptuary laws and taxation that way by clerical or secular authorities.

There was little he could do about that with the vestigial and limited nature of diplomatic relations and conventions. He was a fish out of water, out of time in a way, where the cultural norms of trade and society had never had a peace of westphalia either. The church of abadar was unlikely to protest such taxes either not within foreign realms, they would have no reason to. Especially as that would most likely conflict with the autocephalous nature of the individual temples of Abadar's church.

As for the jeans... well he had to import cotton from down river. Bulk cotton wasn't that bad it was the kind of commodity that could be transported by large barges up river since the Sellen was readily navigable up from the Inner Sea but it did make the trade potentially at risk from any conflicts in the Inner Sea not just the ones the eastern nations were involved in.

Could the commodity revolution take place without the diplomatic reforms of Westphalian sovereignty, or the economic transformation? Eire knew that Narland still wasn't a fully monetized economy, that the realm was a gathering of what he still thought of as anachronistic bits and bobs including the geared water wheels that freed up manpower from the laborious process of grinding grain.

That did free up parts of the work force, as well as not making up the difference with draft animals. The geared water wheel like what Harrgulka had built insured more than a hundred kilograms of grain could be milled an hour in comparison to simpler grain mills that might need two men or a donkey to grind a fraction of that. That was part of how they kept ahead of the food production after all.

As he loomed over the magical map of the realm the thought didn't escape him, that in practical terms that food security was itself anachronistic. Western Europe had had its last famine in the 1950s, the soviet union had continued to be dependent on American grain into the eighties... if you could say the Yeltsin regime had fixed anything it was that it had put the agricultural system to rights... but then probably only because they could no longer plunder Ukrainian granaries.

.... and that was his more pressing concern. Neighboring states had become the more pressing matter, "A fight is surely unavoidable." Jubilost agreed with the conversation going on exclusive of his musings.

The conversation turned as Tristian made a surprising contribution, in sharing what he had learned, "The iobarians I spoke with," Who worshipped a somewhat more militant aspect of sarenrae among their list of gods, "Said that Armag is seeking where the original was laid to rest, to recover a magical sword placed in the tomb to be recovered when he returned to Golarion."

"Ovinrbaane?" the former werewolf questioned from beside Akiros. The sword was titled the enemy of all enemies, but it was already late in the year. The full moon had been the night before, and that meant that the eighth month of the year had only another week.

Eire's watched the ticking hands of the clock on the wall, but its presence did not change that the majority of people especially in the countryside lived according to traditional agrarian practices, and the calendar, and that those practices shaped what labor he could call for royal projects at any given time. "Jubilost I understand you plan to attend Armasse with us in Mendev?" He questioned.

"Ah well, I intended to make the trip," The gnome replied, "I'm sure it will be very interesting." Then coughed slightly.

"I see," He responded. Ovinrbaane would need to be researched... but that had been long after the fall of the Cyclops empire, and Maestro Pendrod was an expert in that field not in the Kellid zenith period before the age of empires that had been the Taldan heyday, "Can we conduct research to at least narrow down whether or not the Temple is or isn't within our borders through research over the winter?" He was relatively sure that was the case, but on the other hand he had no idea what was up with Drelev, and the hooktongue slough situation... and there was Ilthuliak presumably in the southern part of those marshes and who knew what else. "Once the harvest is concluded we will also look at what other labor can be redirected before Winter seriously impedes any work," But that would mostly mean redirectling royal draft animals and the growing pool of experts in crafts.
--
Notes: Ugh this past week okay this today, xenonauts p5 tomorrow, Rabid Fox Wednesday, hopefully Drow thursday, eminence in shadow Friday.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Arodus 4713
The Narlmarch supplied timbers to the realm at large; and theoretically might eventually export timbers in spite of Brevoy's market for export. Large kilns treated lumber and drying sheds protected both stock and boards from the frequent thunderstorms common to the Narlmarches. That was something that Brevoy couldn't or didn't do, because it was techniques centuries ahead of, born of the industrial processes of the 19th century of the British Empire, and brought to maturity for the first world war.

... a war that he had not forgotten was likely still raging on a distant earth...Eire wasn't quite sure about the passage of time.

From these sources, the lumber, supplied both the notched log cabins of local housing, to the finished goods of barrels, or the various shallow drift tinker boats of the river within the kingdom. Due to the geography of the Shrike, the waterfalls further north one could not take the river route much further north than Kressle's domain, but with much of the Kingdom's towns and settlements within easy reach of a major waterway it was practical to have river boats... and from the Shrike you could easily reach Mivon.

The river network was of vital importance

In less civilized situations he wasn't sure the beaver folk and the lizard folk might have really been able to cooperate as well as they were under the kingdom's auspices. The truth was the deepening of the rivers either naturally due to the spring thaw or by dredging required certain changes.

Truth be told Eire would have ideally preferred Roman concrete deep seating pylons in the water. That would have been his response in terms of central planning. Eldas's worshippers being relatively amphibious, coupled with the lizard folk also being relatively amphibious had integrated their existing construction strategies around that with little problem eldas was also god of masonry architecture.

Their success in the Narlmarches, where they did have a much more readily available supply of lumber to fell, had attracted Amvarean's attention. It was likely too late in the year now to start attempting project to repair the old Taldan canal but perhaps next year after the spring thaw the beavers could provide work parties and they could set lumber aside for that. They could look at what Amvarean wanted now, and spend the fall and winter months contemplating the matter, before reviewing the situation the ground in the spring.

Amvarean had a point that there would be use in bringing the old Canal back into service. It was well placed they could from there bring the nearby quarry into use and rebuild the old taldane castle form there it was all around one of the better options of a place to settle immigrants in the realm. Admittedly he hadn't really had the time, and the council was busy... there was so much to do, and the expectations of medieval kingship entailed making physical appearances in a far different fashion than modern heads of states.... and that was without even touching the frontier nature of the realm.

The people of the realm though more broadly were adopting to the sellen river network. To the great river system and its climate... more importantly than that was there was significantly less internal strife than he'd been concerned with. That didn't change though that land clearing, and establishing shelter and shops, and yes farms was time consuming even with the advantage of semi standardized building materials. Clay fired in tube kilns helped significantly, as did kiln fired wooden boards and posts of standard lengths but there was still work that had to be done in construction, and preparing a sight.

He was glad he didn't have to micromanage that level of construction, but it did still need to be done. As monarch he could lay out policy but there needed to be a certain local industriousness that addressed local needs that wouldn't be readily obvious to top level administration. That probably was further obfuscated by the baronial, and now royal stores of common production goods... the kingdom produced standardized clothing, jeans, in addition to building materials. There were royal granary stores that provided access to bread rations.

Those things supported a nascent urban worker population. It meant that people could focus on buying bread or clothing from the kingdom rather than needing to manufacture their own. That took labor out of the household and redirected it into wage labor based on clocks and fixed time.

"Well," he remarked, "That the boats have protected spaces to dock is the more important matter." It really was, the water furnished transit for people and goods. While the Candlemere-Tuskwater combined lake area were critically important Silverstep, and where the Shrike met the Thorn were also of significant importance, especially as both regions mines opened up to produce iron, gemstones, silver, and gold. Never mind any other products.

Valerie signaled her intention to speak, "Not to take away from her request, but this kind of work would also benefit the Temple of the Elk." which of course meant more than just the Temple of the Elk. It meant among other settlements the growing druid refuge, it meant Akiro's domain on the Thorn river. On the other side, that was one the Skunk River, there was the Adamantine Shield Fortress near the western short ... and for that matter there was the crashed ship site that Eire still had not had time to visit in person.

Valerie was right though. The shift, even before the Varnhold vanishing had already begun favoring east to west expansion, rather than the realm's northern brevic border... and he shouldn't have allowed himself to neglect the infrastructure of the northern Narlmarches It was also true that there was very little time left in the year for building and construction.

Armasse was fast approaching, it began on the sixteenth. Then of course there was all the labor called forth for the farms, and harvesting of wheat crops planted back at the beginning of spring. New Colton would also be bringing in its rice crop, as well as crops of corn and barley.

--
The Aldori city state to the south was still blocked from its more traditional route up river that would have let them trade directly with New Stetven. He had wondered for a realm that had espoused, and continued to espouse Aldori independence and being true brevic and whatever else how they rationalized that trade and how it had lasted in at least the time when House Rogaravaria had still had draconic power supporting it. It didn't make a lot of sense given that in theory Choral should have easily been able to mount an assault down the river network and subjugate the fledgling city state... but then again he probably simply hadn't cared to do so, and his heirs had let the matter lie.

He had more important things to do unfortunately than ponder history. Though, that was the interesting thing, he'd tried to run the math of maneuvering an army. It didn't add up. The valley of fire seemed to have been the defining military conflict of the war, or at least the piece de resistance. There was no equivalent in Brevic history, or in the foundation of the kingdom in the north... in fact the entire northern campaign seemed to be well maybe not completely fabricated but so far as he could determine it didn't seem like the Issian houses had put up much resistance to Choral.

Still... Choral had left the Aldori in Mivon alone. Just as he had left the Licenza who went on to ensconce themselves in Pitax. Beyond that, well Eire was staring at the map, but that wasn't what had as of late been bothering him.

He'd largely been operating on the notions of Westphalian Sovereignty but those principles didn't exist... frankly he didn't understand how Galt could have come into being given non of the trends should have existed to create ... well demon cultists wasn't a terrible explanation, or hags or whatever.. but that wasn't his problem.

No it was that he kept assuming that international principles, Westphalian principles were the norm, when there was no reason they should be. He'd made mistakes in how he viewed, and looked at the Technic League and Pitax's actions when frankly he'd been doing so from a modern perspective... and frankly there was no reason Mivon, or Brevoy... well it went a long way to explaining Jamandi frankly irritating behavior and demeanor at times.

That wasn't a good sign.

Eire regarded the pallets. They were roughly equivalent in size to US military pallets, even though he didn't have forklifts of the mechanized variety, but they were each rated for a little over a ton in weight, and the Enterprise's cargo hold was built to accommodate fifty tons. Lack of internal combustion engine driven forklifts were made up for with a combination of hand lifts but also the much more useful magical levitation. The only particular downside to the cargo hold arrangement was it wasn't really suitable for draft animals, such as horses. It had not been designed with such in mind, and attempting to modify the hold for such would have created headaches that they couldn't afford the delay.

Linzi bounced from foot to foot.

"It isn't the first flying ship." Jubilost remarked.


"But its our first flying ship." The halfling retorted growing defensive at the under cutting of the accomplishment.

Jubilost was right, and that was in its own way a relief. Alkenstar had flying galleys, and of course in the age before Aroden's raising of the star stone the empires in the south had always erected flying ships and structures, apparently even whole cities... which of course only gave him worrisome visions of Faerun's Netheril. Thoughts of Netheril just elicited concern about the Drow, and the under dark.

Not that Linzi didn't have a point. He would have liked to have more time to test, and insure the ship was properly fitted out before she commissioned, but the flight to Neroysan was a few days... and they would be there for perhaps a week or two and then they would return.
--
Notes: this takes us into the short excursion to Mendev and the start of the events of the Wrath of the Righteous AP, and the fifth mendevian crusade which will largely run in the background until its conclusion in 4718 with the closing of the world wound.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Arodus 4713

Pre departure​

Amiri didn't have the religiously motivated interest to participate in the expedition they were about to leave for, but then neither did most of the others... and while she had planned to go ... Nilak's intransigence, her stubbornness to stay in Narland in favor of treking west insured Amiri planned to get onboard the flying ship and visit the Crusader kingdom for the coming Iomedaen gathering of Armasse.

That Jubilost had assured her that they were safe wasn't really much of an assurance. It was a flying ship. She already didn't really like ocean going ships, not even having the water under you was ... disconcerting to use the gnome's words. The frost giant Kean... much as she didn't want to admit it was better suited to commanding the small garrison defending the portal to Irrisen if the witch queen's forces attempted to force a battle.

Amiri had thought Amvarean would have taken the position but the silver dragoness was planning to join them. Eranex would be remaining in Shrikewall with Valerie to manage all of the people who seemed to arrive everyday as Nilak had pointed out the week previous.

She looked over the waters and scratched at her shaggy loose braids of brown hair, as the first leaves of autumn sank down into the clear lake to rest on the bottom. In a few weeks the bottom of the lake shore would be a painted mosaic of red, yellow, and orange leaves.

People from all over continued to arrive, and Maestro Pendrod had commented in a discussion with Akiros that the harmonization between the giant deities, particularly those same ones worshipped by the kellid people, with other deities was fascinating. She wasn't sure why it was fascinating. The eccentric and bookish southerner hadn't explained that, but apparently it was noteworthy for how the following oriented its veneration of the powerful spirits of the world.

He was talking about the organization of religion. A subject that Amiri had decided long ago she preferred to leave to those with a tongue for it. Eire and Nilak could handle the gods, and prayer, and ceremony far better than she could, and besides Gorrum was a simple and straight forward enough deity for her needs.


Amiri paused to watch... she wasn't spying... Nilak get into another conversation with Tristian about the goddess Sarenrae. She still didn't think it would be enough to convince Nilak and the six bears to stay though... that was why Amiri was hoping that if she went to Mendev then Nilak and the six bears would be gone from the realm by the time they returned and she wouldn't have to watch them actually leave.
--
Amvarean's excitement was palpable reminding her half sister of days as younger dragons. Eranex though, while appreciative of the necessity of the crusade intended to remain behind. Narhold may as well have been the first realm if some force did some how manger to strike her down her she would simply revive... not a pleasant experience as she well knew but it was very, very useful. She needn't fear being struck down here... well that was something of a stretch, Eranex fully understood that there were ways to kill permanently within the first world's reaches but that required power over the first world.

... but if she were to enter the world wound she'd be cut off from those protections and vulnerable to attacks from demons. That was too risky given her responsibilties as given to her by Shyka as envoy of the Many to Narhold.

... besides though she hadn't mentioned it yet, she had seen glimpses of evidence that one of Baba Yaga's spawn was active on his mother's homeworld, a distant world far across the planes. Worse still they had colluded with their half sister the reigning witch queen against the ancient crone and archmage which entailed the curtain crisis in Irrisen and the summer snows.

Amvarean though was glad to visit the human crusade against the Abyss, there were numerous pure blood silvers there, and the prospect appealed for more to her than her half fey younger sister. Eranex wasn't wholly detached though, the world wound was an abomination it had twisted a realm naturally tied ot hte first world and exposed it to unspeakable horrors but her silver dragon nature was moderated by her responsibilities as one of the sidhe.

The undead, atrophied lich, scoffed rasping air through withered lungs, "You are making excuses." the wizard remarked glancing between her and them the undead elf inquisitor. "No doubt this is an excellent example of the benefit the land reaps from your sister's presence."

Eranex huffed. She hadn't missed that either. Far from it, she had serious concerns that the investment and time poured into nurturing and protecting the land would draw the black wyrm Ilthuliak from her domain and the witch had already succeeded in killing Amvarean once. Beyond the black dragon, and her foul breed's tendency towards destruction, the recognition of the land's contentment under draconic care would likely draw the attention of truly despicable members of the chromatic sept.

The Centaurs perenial concern over the threat of whites was merely prudent in Eranex's opinion, but she did not reiterate those concerns as Jaethal had decided to join the conversation putting the map folio aside. It wasn't of the realm... but rather of their enemy the realm of Irrisen to the North west of them. "I remain concerned about the issue of Kostchtchie, and his clerics intrusion..."

"He is active in Irrisen?"

"It would seem so... but we don't know if he's acting in concert with their Queen, and her schemes we are however sure that he schemes."

Vordakai huffed, "releasing his cleric while the legally proscribed course was perhaps overly generous, geass or not." The wizard complained, but he was prepared to concede that that might have had nothing to do with it at all. Whatever the case, whether it mattered or not it was something that had happened, "Should we expect further incursion from Irrisen?"

"Its impossible to be sure," Jaethal replied, "from what I've discerned , and Kean's observations from the other side it seems unlikely."

"They've devolved into civil war?"

"Perhaps not yet, but the violence reported in Whitethrone could hardly be concealed," And that Eranex recognized boded ill for Queen Elvanna or her daughters in terms of maintaining power, "The," the undead elf paused rolling her eyes, "Heralds of Summer's return," the broad umbrella of secret societies of rebels against the Jadwiga reign, "think they might finally be able to break the queen's hold on power, but there is no centralized resistance, and we have had little luck discerning a way to break the spell of winter," which Elvanna had attempted to unleash spreading Irrisen's ice across Golarion... on the other hand it didn't seem to be taking how she had wanted it, if the portals Irrisen terminus could be taken from Irrisen control.
--
Notes: Bonus segment, I kind of want to explore more of Valerie's family but we know so little of them, and for that matter Brevoy really needs a source book.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Armasse​

16 Arodus 4713
Mendev lay ahead of them, or more correctly the great capital of the northern realm. He had not known what to expect, or make of the Crusader kingdom at the edge of the world, on the very edge of civilization. The great star shaped fortress stood anchored by water its white walls stark and unyielding against the blasted landscape of the north.

Vasa Theodorovic was a cleric of Brigh, which made him relatively unique among taldans as the mustachioed cleric didn't serve a goddess who was particularly well known. Narland promised not just acceptance, but respect. Most clerics of good gods at least were respected because they could heal, but the realm was an oddity on the far flung rustic frontier... or it should have been that which was the distinction.

The arcano-tech engine rumbled noisly as the alchemic concoction that was gathered inside of its pipes as it was forced through a cylinder and then ignited to provide motive power beyond the standard trim and cruise speeds of adjustment.

Praise Brigh.

This great work was a grand combination of various metal working, wood working, and of course magical artifice. They had spent three days coursing through the air. It had taken them two days to cross the breadth of Numeria.

It, the trip as well the vessel, was of course also a statement of royal power. The king relied on the aid of elder fire elementals to take shifts serving as a key mechanism in the apparatus. The fire elementals took their shifts powering the apparatus rather than being bound in the kind of sorcery common in the geniebinding used by the Padishah empire... and that of course meant that as long as the ship remained in a holding position the elementals could attack hostile targets as if they were themselves a part of the crew, and the fire elementals struck with powerful blasts of solar light.

Vasa had seen this demonstrated so it was not itself a surprising turn, in the sense that it was a new capability. It was a surprise because several of the elder fire elementals were now firing solar rays at targets he could not see. There was a mounting din of combat, and the roar of dragons all around.

That was in the moment eureka erupted, realization that they were in battle.

They were in battle against the forces of the abyss... of course he had known that that was the point of the crusade but he had expected the tons of supplies primarily in the form of grain foodstuffs for the crusaders was a largely peaceful venture. That they wouldn't actually be on the frontline. He hadn't even really considered what the frontline might be, never mind the fanciful illogical descriptions and horror stories of the rumor mill.

A horrific screech echoed from the air around them.

"For Gorrum!" A proud barbarian voice shouted, which was chorused by other barbarians, "Get us closer I want to hit them with my sword!"

From the opposite direction he heard another voice, "Aetheric capacitors charged," A cleric of Nethys one of the southern ones with a prominent metal skull cap declared wrapping his staff on the planking, "Purge the demon."

A flash of magical energy rippled through the air of the port side and hit something beyond Vasa's sight. Vasa Theodoric was to busy staring at the several hundred meter long red dragon whose wings were bending as it dived towards the city. The great tyrant dragon made Lady Shaoyu, the king's ward, and for that matter the silver form of Lady Amvarean look small.

Vasa Theodoric watched as the elementals of the ship's complement sadled from the central engineering compartment and the ships's forward momentum came to a near halt. He held the bar of the railing to steady himself.

"Insects of terror," The dragon's masculine voice, speaking in draconic of course, spat contemptuously at the flying bug like demons. As he did so dozens of blade barriers formed from conjured silver long swords that churned biting into demonic flesh shielding the port side in a flashing metal protective wall. Vasa did not see much more. The ship began to pitch adjusting its angle to descend to no doubt obey Lady Amiri's command to allow her and the warriors to disembark.

... as if they weren't preparing to face demons in open combat. Theodorovic had not been precisely thrilled when there had been the threat of just Irriseni invaders back at high summer... and while he had volunteered for the maiden flight of Enterprise he had been laboring under the assumption that the flight to Nerosyan, the capital of Mendev, would not take them to the front itself.

He heard the barking of the Nethite cleric in the skull cap and the siege weapon scoured the air again shooting down at an angle through some kind of complex lens... the sparkling beam striking something he couldn't see from his vantage point.

--
Regongar watched the shadow's source as it glided almost serenely across the battlefield in the sky. The rippling portals of divine fire appearing in the sky were nothing he hadn't seen before, just never on this scale. He had wondered before if the red headed priest had been like him that was from a lineage of dragons...

"Well, that would explain why he doesn't burn." Jubilost muttered, "He almost as long as that bastion's wall..." Which was was probably three hundred meters easy, and that was even larger relative to the gnome, "And more holy fire." The gnome observed as wreathing flame scoured flying monstrous bugs.

"If it works why complain." The half orc grunted. As it was the demons were immune to his lightning, and resisted acid which left him in something of a lurch compared to the others. He was a little envious of Amiri's fey wrought great sword right now.

"I can complain about a lot of things," The gnome hurled a vile smelling concoction of herbs at the demon, "But not really about that."

"What is in that foul smelling shit?" He demanded wrinkling his nose in disgust

"Oh you know vervain, and a number of other herbs sacred to various good deities distilled in a solution of holy water, which we have no shortage of,"

The half orc grunted as Shaoyu shot after the other larger draconic form. Then, he shifted out of the way, "Ugh, bug guts." He muttered as another one of the locust thing splatted against the wall. Regongar watched the limbs spasm. "Oh shit who are these-" He didn't finish the question before having to parry an attack from a cloaked weirdo in a mask.

Jubilost backpedalled. "Oh dear cultists." He muttered.

"yah think." There was a bestial grunt as Amiri screamed a war cry slashed open one of the robes to reveal a deformed bovine esque hoof, "Hey he's not a bug person." She grunted, "Who the fuck are these guys?"

Jubilost rolled his eyes. "The bug demons serve the demon lord Deskari," He hurled another noxious compound, that exploded into a wave of blue white fire, "If I had to make an educated guess these are Cultists of Baphomet the bastard son of Lamashtu." That was apparently the wrong thing to say as one of the offended cultists struck out with his or her glaive.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Armasse 4713​

The noon day sky burned casting all beneath under the stifling summer heat. The sounds of battle were everywhere, and the screams of the wounded.... and worse noises as the demons fell upon the vulnerable of her city.

Queen Galfrey of Mendev prepared herself. She brandished her blessed long sword as the demon leapt its insectoid wings flapping to an audible hum. It didn't' even get close before it died. She hadn't expected it to, but instead of one of her arms men intercepting the beast from the abyss another struck. It jumped, and then suddenly the chitinous scales of the bug monster ruptured as long silver talons came scything into the creature from the side. Then with casual ease those same talons hooking into those penetrated scales, and the hand those talons were attached to twitched, casting the demon aside.

There was a solid splat as the abyssal monstrosity painted a formerly white washed wall in a stain of gore.

A cat playing with a mouse.

A not in apt description given the vaguely leonine face of the dragon's proportions its deep red scales were like looking into a forge. The color a sharp sharp contrast to the bright metallic gold that she was more used to seeing on a dragon its size. A bright silver pupil blinked long in their direction as the head turned to regard them, "For the grateful weight of the sword." The red remarked as a wave of legion archons emerged from under its wings to dispatch the remaining abyssal menace. The dragon's head craned slightly, "We are Eire of Shrikewall sovereign of the Narlhold, we greet you Queen Galfrey," Then almost as an after thought, stating the obvious, and in a more conversation tone, "though were such salutations under more preferable conditions."

The blonde queen nodded reciprocating the greeting. "Such is the burden of the righteous." She replied spreading her hands in the formal dialogue, a reciprocating welcome.

Scales disappeared receding into a tall humanoid figure. A man stood with prominent features and deep red hair had replaced the dragon's form in an instant. He was dressed in the vestments of a priest. They would, were she supposed, roughly in line with a cleric of the faith from Westcrown... when she had been a girl... when her father had still ruled Mendev a hundred years earlier. He favored a black cassock with red piping , and a sword belt accommodated a functional though not particularly unusual in appearance longsword. The man, the king before her could have easily stepped out of a tapestry of the first mendevian crusade.

Before anything else could be said there was another wing beat and a smaller dragon... relatively speaking as the younger dragon was bordering on huge. "I thought we were supposed to be attacking the demons." The young feminine voice protested in draconic to her elder heedless of her surroundings or of the others. "Amvarean says this looks like a full scale invasion from the worldwound."

Galfrey recognized the name as draconic though... she could not ascertain its meaning, and certainly did not recognize it as one of those who resided in Mendev usually. This suggested that ... her realm found itself hosting an entire draconic court... which was unexpected to say the least. An oversight, one of her retainers should have had the wisdom to comment on such guests coming.

There was a defining roar as a silver dragon dashed several demons from the sky. With a gesture the red head sent the archons off to join the fight underway over her capital. Not a particular surprise the rumors surrounding the impossible appearance of the strange cleric of the Inheritor attested time and again he had a natural amiable relationship with archons of all stripes. Given his patronage of the empyreal lords churches that made sense though, and no one in her court had made much more of it.

Having seen his transformation from massive red dragon to a mostly normal looking human, if one in outdated formal attire... Galfrey might have wagered that the rumors of his spellcasting ability, and genius were a product of being centuries old. Her train of thought stopped as Opaline, one of her councilors, interrupted them with a report from a runner from somewhere else within the bastion of Nerosyan.

She would need a word with Opaline, she hadn't expected to have her court pay host to a court of dragons regardless of their membership in the faith...and while she wasn't opposed to it someone should have at least thought to mention or make clear the details of a visiting court.

Her council bowed, "Your majesty if early reports are accurate it would seem the demons have managed to breach the wardstones." That should have been impossible, but it did make the most sense... and of course the bad news continued to pile on like rain with the implication that it was more than the forces of any single demon lord attacking her capital... and presumably the other holdings of her realm.
--
Amiri swung her sword down. The fey wrought steel bit and sparked through the ugly fly monster's face sending the semi skeletal half insectoid monster's body crashing to the ground. "Ha!" She barked a laugh in its direction though the corpse could not speak its wings spasmed buzzing a little longer before they became still.

She had been worried that this invitation, that the whole trip was just going to be boring that Eire would end up doing god speaker things talking to other clergy and they wouldn't actually get to fight. So much worrying that she had started to regret coming... but here they were in a massive castle besieged by demons and culists on all sides.

Jubilost ran up panting from the strain of his stubby little short legs, "We're rallying... well I suppose the literal army of angels showing up does help." He grunted shaking his head.

"And the dragons."

"Yes, yes." the gnome shook his head, He chunked another potion that exploded into a roaring cacophony of noise and heat at a skittering bug monster crawling a nearby wall. "Look at me I can breath fire." He rolled his eyes, "But certainly every little bit helps. "But between the lantern archons swarming out of every bellfrey it helps."

Regongar glanced at the cultists, "What are the chances these guys are immune to lightning?" He asked with a malicious gleam in his eyes.

It was telling that one of the deformed hoof footed bastards took a cowardly step backwards from the ranks rather than charging forward into glorious battle. "FOR GORRUM!" She bellowed her greatsword reaching out cutting at the coward. "Our Lord In Iron!"

Regongar bared his teeth and sucked in a deep breath before expelling a blast of lightning at the crowd of demon worshippers occupying the other side of the street. With that recommitment to battle both sides moved to reengage with their opposites, but the cultists without the element of surprise and with many of their demonic allies under fire from elementals, and archons, and angels were now decidedly at a disadvantage.

That regongar could fly was another advantage in their favor. She didn't really have any need to know who they were fighting. Deskari, Baphomet, who cared they were the enemy that was all she needed to know, their following against the enemy one that was the way of iron. Gorrum could watch their deed from the sky as they fought.
--
Notes: This is a hold over from a while ago, indeed this is a direct link to the original epilogue where Eire's draconic characteristics are significantly more pronounced, with some tweaks to reflect the more current build's draconic traits. In the original Eire's draconic form is more along the lines of what my Avatar is, versus in the current where the draconic form is more inline with the denser musculature and more leonine appearance of the orichalcum dragon, but this is position in the timeline is a in a way juxtaposed with the current power gain schedule... but its here for rule of cool and holdover from the previous draft.

And of course in the early drafts of the story, Eire assumes draconic form a lot more frequently relative to this iteration. Such as in the original iteration, the fight against Ilthuliak, which in the original version takes place in the first world is a red dragon versus a black dragon (Ilthuliak).

Spoiler

Spoiler

Post World Wound being closed, and Noticula ascending to godhood: One roasted goat later...
Galfrey: "I have a headache."

 

[Imperator Pax]

Arodus 4713
In Shrikewall, that was within the nascent nation of Narland the holiday gatherings and events of Armasse would have lasted the rest of the month. In part because that was the growing tradition and in part to ensure that also they were prepared in the event of further Irriseni incursions even if none seemed forthcoming... and in part because it promised him the opportunity to better prepare the ground work for an eventual standing army.

Eire watched the clean up. It was unlike the usual cleaning up after religious festivities and more like Irrisen's incursion. The irriseni even their evil winter fae were not so inherently polluted as the creatures of the abyss. The attack rather spoiled his ability to appreciate the great city that was the mendevian capital of Neroysan. He wouldn't have been surprised if the Cruxiform Cathedral was the largest dedicated temple to Iomedae , purpose built for the goddess. He wouldn't have been surprised if there were basilica to Aroden that were still larger but those had been erected in the old age, and in a period where there had been greater stability and finances.

Not that Aroden's death was solely to attribute to that, the decline in empires had begun centuries before that... on the other hand it wasn't entirely unlikely that Aroden's death had directly laid the foundation for the world wound's formation.

Beyond Neroysan's cathedral was the absurdly gaudy Starrise spire. He'd paid little mind to the pathfinder society in Brevoy, and had had even less contact with them since his coronation, but while the spire was defensive... it was also ostentatious to the point of being an eyesore. The Society was however a partner in the crusades. They were apart of an actual formal alliance treaty system that engaged its membership in collective defense... so there was no point in judging the spire.

While the Starrise spire had remained largely untouched apparently the other less obvious lodge of the pathfinder society had come under direct attack... the pathfinders had been responding in the city's hour of need. Much as had others.

"The Chelish mission seems to have aroused some ire of its own."

He rolled his eyes at Jubilost's tired crack, the gnome was bordering on exhaustion and hence his acerbic joking were less inventive than usual. "Do tell?"

"Apparently they," The smug gnome meant some detachment of crusaders, "can't distinguish between Hell's forces and those of the abyss so when the Chelish called devils to attack the demons of Deskari and Baphomet well. General ignorance fueled hostility, really what do you expect of musclebound meat heads." Jubilost snickered, "And the Chelish well amusingly the orphanage this lady Deckland went to the trouble of defending, had already been evacuated. She was defending an empty building." He chuckled ruefully.

"The building is intact?"

"By all reports,"

He nodded as the slight silver lining. Too many structures had been damaged during the attack, as it was Neroysan was overcrowded by both refugees and the visitors for the holiday. That of course was without even considering damage done in the subsequent opportunist looting by the seedy underbelly's denizens. That opportunism was terrible but predictable to an extent even if ridiculously short sighted. The real threat though was the fact that the city had been attacked from within... and from a combination of directions.

Baphomet apparently had assembled something called the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth that had been operating for some time in the shadows. The cultists took their societies name from Baphomet's domain... which was bad of course, but there were it seemed even more demon lords involved.

So many that it actually hadn't taken long for the demons and various cultists to actually fight each other... most over loot and potential slaves / victims. That had certainly helped the defenders but ultimately it had been the weight of numbers that had turned the tide.

The crusading army garrisoned in Mendev's castle knew how to fight demons, and caught by surprise or not they had rallied. The problem was as Amvarean had observed that the attack was not an isolated one. The loss of contact with other crusader fortresses and the cities they protected was not a good sign.

--
There could be no questioning that Mendev's patron goddess was Iomedae. The capital of Neroysan held the crucible cathedral which was among the most impressive centers of the faith, and also served as center of the fortress city's defenses. The diamond in the north was not consecrated ground in the sense of how church and temples were, but the city's footprint purified the taint of the world wound, preventing it from flowing down river. It didn't make it safe to drink from the west sellen but it did stop the corruption from flowing further south.

Mendev's capital of Neroysan was as new as the nation itself. For centuries before the opening of the worldwound Old Sarkorsis had been the northern frontier of Avistan a blending of Ulfen, Kellid, and Taldane. Nerosyan's pre world wound existence had been as a frontier trading port, and so far as old Sarkorsis had had a capital it had been the city of Iz. Mendev had been an Iobarian principality before the world wound, and it had not in 4606 when the abyssal gateway had opened, not transformed Neroysan and Mendev into its modern form, but by that point in time the nobility of Mendev had already been 'civilizing' as the Taldanes and Chelish might have thought of it. Their elite had already begun a process of adopting the customs of the church of Aroden and importing masonry architecture.

The first Mendevian crusade though had changed that as had the influx of Aroden's church before the great conversion that had assimilated much of the last azlanti's church and its power into Iomedae's church. Of course that act had also meant that ironically Iomedae's church had never developed an organic internal church hierarchy and given what Aroden's church had become that had not been adopted into the hierarchy of Iomedae's growing church.

Eire ran his fingers across the map, comparing modern Mendev and the Worldwound, to what had been a little more than a century before. There were similarities to the Stolen Lands, and he suspected to Irrisen, and more than that he suspected that the reported cyclopean ruins at Storasta might well be a mark far western border of Vordakai's people. More than anything though was the natural connection to the first world that had been somehow been twisted to instead connect to the Abyss... and of for that matter the elf gate in the north east of the country.

Galfrey of Mendev was immortal of sorts, but she was not connected to her realm as he suspected the Jadwiga rulers of irrisen were, or presumably their progenitor Baba Yega was, nor how he was connected to Narhold. Of course, Mendev was subject to substantially more invasive planar factors, the very world wound was an invasion from another plane and not one naturally connected here but rather the by product of the demon witch of Undarin tampering with the unhinged cosmic order. Areelu Vorlesh was not Baba Yega, but she was an archmage and most likely her demonic patrons and perhaps even her lineage had allowed her to make the shift from the first world to the abyss... but that was speculation and regardless of such it was not the immediate concern.

The worldwound's formation, how it had come to be, was not today's problem, but rather it was the safe guarding of the nation of Mendev and destroying the nearest threats to it. The gathering of the fifth mendevian crusade had invited much from the church's patrons, and the crusades patrons to provide for a renewed effort against the demonic scourge.

Even now, though Nerosyan proper had been resecured against the threat its knightly captains were reporting threats on the borders, and the continued loss of contact with distant holdings across the crusader kingdom. It would be dangerous to leave to relieve Kenabres while grindlow prowled from Storasta in the south and outlying settlements were threatened by the the inhabitants of the fallen kellid city about.

Storasta had been lost seventy years ago, the last remnant of old Sarkorsis... and while it was a ruined mess, it was ruined mess that provided a base of operations for which to threaten a city that was by medieval standards quite large. Neroysan, the modern Neroysan, was a metropolis approaching some sixty five thousand full time residents.

The capital of the crusader state could not be permitted to fall. Eire looked at the scrawl of parchment that detailed Mendev the world wound and northern numeria, and realized how used to certain things he had become in his brief time as king. How fast Narhold had developed and its institutions had come into place to provide to him most of the apparatus of state as he expected them. Then of course were the the parts he had gotten used to, that were wholly feudal in nature. Mendev was a majority human nation, and Nerosyan was probably more human than most great metropolitan regions of the world.

... or perhaps that was normal. Eire really wasn't certain, but regardless he knew he'd become far far more used to the fae, and giant presence of Shrikewall and its environs than he had realized.

--
Notes: This is going up today, in part this is due to the computer crash fucking up four days worth of updates wednesday morning, and in part because the Mendev expedition itself, honestly received less focus than the Numerian expedition in planning from a writing stand point. That isn't to say this series of segments isn't important, but Eire's visit to Mendev, and who he takes with him shapes international opinion such that that can be thought of in a pre modern context. Also in the current draft this also marks the first transformation into a giant dragon not in the first world and thus publicly thats relatively important in the long run.

While the fifth mendevian crusade will be alluded to and referred to in terms of the grain trade where foreign currency flows into Narland in exchange for the transport to Neroysan of grain and other goods this is really Eire's only visit and participation in the crusade until really the even of both adventure paths chronologically in 4718.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Rova 4713
They had ridden south first to Aaromor, before mustering for the attack itself. The cavaliers held one flank of the advance against Storasta's fell denizens. Mendev had not committed to the destruction of Storasta previously not because it was beyond their ability, but because they couldn't or hadn't deemed it mission critical. It would have required committing resources to destroy a base just beyond their ability to hold.

Today though was different, as fresh volunteers assembled for the now only weeks old Fifth Crusade mustered under the wasteland's sky. They had the numbers now, and they had an operational, and strategic reason to strike out at the lost city.

Plants withered under the baleful light of the solar corona. It was as if the plane of Axis itself imposed order on the tangled mass below, and smothered the magic of the enemies. Long silver swords danced through the air flying out and piercing demons, and fae, and other things pinning them to the wall as crusader infantry advanced in ranks.

He had agreed to this in recognition that Nerosyan and Mendev needed to march to ascertain their other holdings. That the crusaders could not do that with their south western frontier threatened by grindylows and scrags and the other monstrous creatures of storasta's ruined settlement. So he would do this, he was doing this and taking part in aiding Galfrey of Mendev to secure her realm, and for the crusade as a whole.

The reality though of Storasta as it was now. What the city had been reduced to. Its walls turned black by abyssal fire, and overgrown, overrun by assassin vines and tis grounds trampled by shambling mounds, and corrupted arboreals.

He exhaled. There was nothing that could be done for this lost city. All of it had to burn. Storasta had lasted eight hundred years before it had been abandoned in 4644... but there was nothing to save here on the banks of the Sarkora and West Sellen rivers. He was used to touching the divine wellspring of power, calling fire and having it respond... perhaps it was the proximity to the world wound but his connection to law align energy was much stronger. Celestial fire scorched the ground as angry rays of sunlight burned the earth into opaque glass fields.

Eire closed his mouth, folded his wings, and descended back to the ground resuming his typical human form. Fire burned from his finger trips and tore through the corrupted bark skin of an arboreal that strayed too close in its shambling movements... these were not winter fae but rather tree spirits tainted by the abyssal energies of the world wound.

All the more the pity since they were not doubly vulnerable to fire as Irrisen's native treant, conifer like shambling mounds, would have been.

--
On the day that the crusade was to be declared the abyss had struck them first though. At kenebres the demonic forces had worse murdered the city's ancient protector the Silver Dragon Terendelev, and word of that making its way to Nerosyan it fell to here to relieve the city.

That would mean martialing her forces, and riding out from her capital.

For Galfrey of Mendev the report was both reassuring and itself a reminder of how much effort the crusade has separated her realm from the typical matters of state. For the average kingdom it would have been unthinkable to completely miss the details of an emerging realm... and yet Narland had sprung up and avoided her notice.

Nerosyan was the gem of the north and its cathedral was the heart of the kingdom, though it was not the only cathedral in mendev... but that was exactly it. The missions to Brevoy and Numeria had yielded little in the way of the church's expansion. Numeria had a larger Iomedaen gathering faithful than Brevoy did but for the kellids of Numeria that was a matter of change and distinction between the two groups rather than integration into the existing order.

She had given up any hope of success in either realm, and hadn't expected a breakthrough to come from the river kingdoms of all places. Yet, there stood a cathedral of the Inheritor and a growing number of churches and temples raised to the gods of law, and good.

It was... not a miracle obviously... but it was an organizational achievement with few peer examples to speak of. Even Mengkare had taken time, he had founded the island nation of Hermea a century and a half earlier. Located in the seas off of Varisia Hermea though was more city state, even if it did demonstrate some of the same bountiful productivity in the fields of agriculture. Her Chancellor had already informed her that in estimation from talking with the Narland mission Eire's capital at Shrikewall had already exceeded Mengkare's capital of Promise, and that the urban centers around the river network and its lakes meant Narland's subordinate cities would soak up and grow rapidly to the point where their migrants would allow them to overtake the capital of Hermea in size.

That the Narland mission included the draconic ruler of the domain of Silverstep was another point supporting that. The Silver Dragon Amvarean claimed descent from the Silver Great Wyrm from whom the lake took its name, and her half sister Eranex served as the envoy to Eire's court from the court of Shyka of the Eldest. The recent visit of the Arcanotheign, the herald of Nethys, together only further supported the commonplace rumors that swirled around her fellow monarch's ties to the gods.

Some simply enjoyed naturally the ear of the gods.

Were it simply that well, even accounting for the autocephalous nature of the Inheiritor's churches in a given nation to extend diplomatic relations. One could hardly ignore a king who stood in heaven's good graces. The great impediment was her need to march on Kenabres, the churches had asked for contributions to prepare for the crusade... they might have recognized that the demons would not simply ignore their preparations and might strike first.

--
To be an arch dragon was to to forge a connection with an elemental force of nature. Shiny, sun ray like, flames descended from the red maw severing the connection of spellcasters to their power. That by itself would have been enough to turn the tide of battle for the crusaders who otherwise already carried the weapons necessary to overcome their base nature of abyssal resistance.

The Hellknight of the Most Blessed Order of the Godclaw Juvenzo Vestalis watched as unperishing silver flames disrupted the unlawful powers of the demons. Leechweed and other common hazardous flora were purged, vines overgrowing everything about the ruins of Storasta caught fire and ripped up those abandoned structures until the cleansing flame worked their way into the abyssal tainted plants as it seemed as if sunlight filled the gaps.

The truth was of course if they could succeed at purging Storasta of its vile denizens they had orders to put the ruins to the torch and burn all that remained in hopes of both the simple stratagem of denying the dwellings ot their enemies but also in hopes of making some effort of purging the ground. It was unlikely, or it had been deemed unlikely to Juvenzo's superiors, that they could afford the time necessary to cleans the ground with a powerful enough ritual of consecration... and if they could it was quite likely the demonic forces of the worldwound would defile this space again as soon as they withdrew.

The Order of the Godclaw differed from many hell knight orders. It was in its foundation a crusader order that traced its roots to the death of Aroden, and the opening of the worldwound provided the opportunity which gave rise to the Godclaw.

... and then a shadow fell out over the battlefield, but it was not the corrupted treant druid they had expected, but another dragon. Where the metal like scales of law looked as if it were the heart of a furnace the fiendish beast was known to the crusaders. This was Azrivauxus the green dragon was known to attack the crusaders stationed along the western sellen. They must have flown down the length of the river from the winged wood to meet the crusader here.

"Kill the druid here." The command from the King of Narland was reflexive, his eyes like molten quicksilver tracing the sky before sending a blast of magic denying solar flame at the Green beginning a fight that would lay waste to the last of the ruins of Sarosta and would also remove another threat to the Crusaders of Mendev when it was done.
--
Notes: i'm going to wrap up the Mendev interlude here I think simply because I did not plan for it to be especially long though this segment was going to be larger covering the campaign of Storasta to allow Nerosyan to send out relief for Kenabres, and also would have addressed some other things that will be mentioned later... but also that the Mendev segments have been sort of off and on in terms of what I was planning on covering in this expedition or how while still intended to tread lightly on the AP itself. This is also why the next section, at the end of Rova wraps up the events of the AP Reign of Winter without directly touching on say Rasputin and the sucession in Irrisen is only lightly dealt with.

However it does touch on foreign recognition of some of the perks, from the point of view of religious medieval / pre modern points of view lightly, due to direct exposure to Eire. We do miss out on Linzi's reaction, she lost a scene in all of this, we do not see more of cheliax at this stage but its important to get back to the kingdom.

 

[Imperator Pax]

23 Rova 4713
The days had been growing shorter for weeks of course. Weeks before they had set out, and did suspect that that might have been symbolically important to Irrisen's attack, but they had needed to make the journey abroad. Kings had a responsibility at a national level, they were not supposed to be common adventurers. Eire was relieved to be home, but that did not make this a time to relax. There was no shortage of tasks which required his presence and input. He was glad to be home, even in the face of that.

They had departed Mendev and the frontlines of the world wound on the Harvest Moon, which was of course also the Day of the Inheritor this year, and today was the fall equinox. "Our defenses hold?" He questioned. Eire had not originally planned to remain in Mendev as long as he had, but the sudden explosive nauseating pulsation of the demonic incursion and the disaster that threatened the crusade's efforts had forced him to remain for a few weeks, banking that they would be able to return soon and that the defenses would resist any attempt by Irrisen to retake their side of the portal.

Summer had ended the day before after all.

"Yes," There was a pause at the response implying there was more to the story. "Actually the portal has been closed."

He raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression we had made no progress on sealing the gateway?" Admittedly much of their magical resources had been tied up on other projects throughout the summer season."

"No someone else did it."

"Indeed." Vordakai lumbered forward, "From what we have been told," He said with characteristic rasp, "the Queen of Irrisen has been dethroned, her mother has returned, and closed the portals across the world."

That was a surprise. "Baba yaga did?" Not an unwelcome one, per se, but still a surprise. It meant that the threat had been resolved... but it did still leave lingering concerns. The truth was Eire had been hoping to make the necessary bureaucratic arrangements first before trying to implement a standing army, and while he'd been thinking about it before riding off to deal Gragglebeard, Irrisen's sudden incursion more than anything was the sort of challenge to a state where having an army on hand from the start.

The cyclops lich nodded and confirmed that this had been confirmed by both the pathfinder society as well as by other sources. Apparently Queen Elvanna had been defeated, and Baba Yaga freed from her imprisonment... the situation beyond that was complicated. Perhaps the pathfinder society would be able to tell them more in the future, perhaps not.

Elvanna's children had as was Irrisen tradition, Jadwiga tradition had been installed in various positions, and apparently the prospect of Baba Yaga returning and disappearing the first generation was enough to prompt some to attempt side with their mothers plot and others to run. He had not expected a high level defection to include one of Irrisen's duchesses.

But he supposed one of Elvanna's daughters deciding to get out of dodge might well have inclined a second to follow her example once the apparent tide of the battle of Whitethrone had turned... if that had been what had happened.

He exhaled. "Petitioners to deal with then?"

Jaethal needled him that was simply part of the burden of being king. The elf wasn't wrong. This was indeed part and parcel of running a monarchy of a territorial kingdom right down to the expectation that he provide hospitality to displaced nobles at least to some degree, or have a good reason not, even without touching on any religious considerations.

--
Svetochka Elvanna had been duchess of Wintercrux under her mother Queen Elvanna... a position that had Irrisen history for the last 1400 years, and previous thirteen queens, held that she would have lost when Baba Yaga returned. To that end the duchess had likely been banking that running from her castle, Caramida Keep, in Morozny in wintercrux.

The former duchess was a blonde woman, with purple eyes, normally a proclaimed trait of Azlanti heritage, but typically the Jadwiga demonstrated a more akin to half elf lifespan... or at least a tendency to above average lifespan and a lack of aging. Eire suspected that that was a product of Baba Yaga's place in the family tree... at least he assumed it was probably part of an inheritable trait from what little observation he'd been able to make of the various Jadgwiga ... but so far almost all of them demonstrated some capacity for magic it seemed... at the very least a substantively higher rates than normal humans.

All in all the two century plus old witches, the duchess and her much earlier arrived half sister the former countess of Bozena managed to look only in their late thirties, and he was given to understand that Elvanna's oldest daughter Casioche was reported to look roughly the same, and the queen deposed now had herself remained comfortable in the early part of middle age at worst.

That didn't make them supernaturally attractive, though they weren't plain by the standards of Jadwiga women either. A century of rule, and of course the conditions of the Irrisen had likely largely stern and unyielding. Bozena had defected early, and with an exodus of peasants and retainers in no small part due to the threat of what brutality an Irrisen civil war would mean. Baba Yaga's victory was not even really a question at the time that the violence had reignited at the capital, and it seemed a similar calculus had been considered by Svetchoka as the prospect of her mother's missteps in making Irrisen vulnerable to foreign invasion.

Bozena had quickly ingratiated herself with Kanerah, the fiery tiefling, on the basis of a talent with numbers and management. A position that her half sister likely looked to secure as well. The process of resettling an Irrisen diaspora though with the portal closed was a little more complicated now. Eire recognized he needed to strengthen the prescence, with settlement, he had on his eastern frontier but he was a little loath to settle the populace on his far frontier especially the most recent arrival.

As it was the two half sisters were presently regarding each other with a cool silence. Eire spread his hands on the hardwood table as he sat down, "Since Aroden's death prophecy has been inaccurate," Perhaps because Aroden had been a god of prophecy that his demise may have very well had a massive effect on his tie to the domain.... or prophecy was effected by other factors ... given ancient cyclops recorded periods of ... disruption to foresight... he disliked attempts to tell the future, though he was willing to believe Durin of Sharp Fangs that a war coming... not necessarily because prophecy but... that it seemed pretty likely, "Still your mother has been dethroned by Baba Yaga," Or at least by agents of the 'queen of witches, "according to the Pathfinder society, the portals have been closed, and Baba Yaga has since installed a new queen, and departed Golarion." He really did wish that he had more details.
--

Maegar took a seat and that allowed them to begin. It brought the body into attendance to deal with the other issues of the realm. He had already spoken with Maegar, and Vordakai both about the necessity of shoring up the eastern frontier. He'd need to speak with the nomen centaurs, though in truth he was fairly confident that the tribe insured his north eastern frontier, coupled with the border with brevoy meant that was the most secure sector... but that wasn't why they were here.

Elvanna of Irrisen's actions, coupled with the World Wound crisis, and the fifth crusade, created a potential problem in the food supply. Armies on the march needed significant food stores, and the plan for the crusade had been to buy up stockpiles of grain ahead of the campaign. No one had expected Irrisen to then threaten the summer harvest by opening freezing portals and sending raiding parties to cause it to snow in summer in most places.

Brevoy, Pitax, and other river kingdoms had been effected. Further south Kyonin, Andoran, Galt, Cheliax, Osirion and others had all been struck by summer snows and the deleterious effects on agriculture, and disruption to trade. Food prices had already been elevated in response to increased demand... not that he suspected there was thinking of it in those terms, but not supply was also effected.... and summer was now over.

Iobarian wheat was what winter wheat. Or at least close enough in terms of effect that it could be used for dryland farming and be planted after the summer harvest. He'd already drafted plans for Bozena's decamped subjects to blow, with horses a new baronial farm in the kamelands estates to give them something to do before he'd left to Mendev... and now he was considering permanently encamping them in the kamelands and having them take part in the work of planting those crops as part of plan of settlement.

"Is brevoy at risk of a famine?"

"I doubt it... but winter will be unpleasant. There will be shortages" Maegar replied, as he recounted the contents of the letters he had received from home, "The church of Erastil in Restov is not happy, and the situation up north is even worse."

... and in politics terms it was more complicated than that, further complicated by the many kellid migrants across the plains and steppes. IF Pitax had been feeding them, and Pitax's crops were now subject to well crop failure due to weather and food prices increased as overall supply declined... that confederation to the west was going to start looking for food sources. It was true that Fort Drelev was between them and Pitax, but Eire did not fancy attempting to explain economics to Hannis Drelev in the slightest.

.. and he doubted the brevic noble would have listened to such an explanation.

The kellids used physical currency, so did iobarians... the problem was that they didn't mint their own currency. They used other peoples currency and thus as a medium of exchange was not quite the same as with sedentary people. Goods and services were the preferred method, when they weren't dealing barter and gift giving. He did have a use for barbarian goods and services... he needed horse trainers among other things, and it never hurt during harvest season to have extra hands around, or for more people tending flocks, but that ran into the whole issue of honor and respect across cultural lines. There was a balancing act in dealing with tribes and clans, that was different than contending with separate cultures of different sedentary populations.

"House Varn in Issia?"

"I've exchanged letters from my father," Maegar admitted, "But in truth the problem isn't our growing but what would be shipped north."

"Rostland will increase prices on goods shipped to northern markets, and issian longshoremen and the boat captains will mark up prices further." He replied.
--
Notes: this is an intermediary chapter as I said partially I want to contend with actual fallout of AP consequences in geopolitics, and also that how Pitax interacts with its neighbors.


Also my DM just informed me I can't have a dinosaur next level, you can have a dragon she tells me but I can't have a dinosaur (It'll be a young dragon, but I'm like... )

Like okay... and one of my players is just like ROFL at this.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Rova 4713
His return and the fact that it was the ninth month of year meant that there was no shortage of work compiled upon his tables. He would be busy for the next several days without even considering the summaries of the harvest, and how Irrisen's ill thought plan had effected Avistan at large.

The official ledgers of the kingdom provided a set of axes by which to organize projects. It codified what the kingdom did in a way that didn't exist in the typical feudal hierarchy and governance. Part of this was the allocation of resources through the exchequer for centralized planning of construction. Standards, ways & means.

There were broadly speaking three distinct architectural styles constructed by the royal exchequer... four if you lumped all the foreign imports... but that was a different matter. The could broadly be categorized by principle building material, wood, masonry (stone), and brick construction. These fed into also the grid system that among other intentions was designed to prevent fires from being able to spread easily, as well as otherwise maintain civil order.

In the first category were the timber frame homes, and other larger predominantly timber structures that were more accurately a combination of Germanic timber and log building styles designed to be produced quickly, while also integrated a handful of carpentry imports in their design. They were thus rather unique to the narlmarch and the area of Shrikewall's barony and its the subsequent areas under royal authority...

The second category were a distinct separation from the brevic style by virtue of using masonry stone working. It was in this category rested both the Royal keep, and the Cathedral of Iomedae on the Shrikewall promontory, particularly dominated by arches, and broadly appearing in the design styles of the inner sea. This was perhaps best demonstrated in the presence of depictions of both Alseta in the entry archways and over doors, as well as the frequently employed lion motifs of larger royally funded stone buildings.

The final third category were constructions of brick. It was made possible because of the use of tube kilns and a standard sized brick cutting apparatus that allowed the mass firing of uniform bricks for construction. These buildings, with a standardized construction pattern formed the basis of much of the commercial and mixed used buildings built in the patterns of linear settlement that followed the wide roads of the new Kameland towns. They were typically constructed with warehouse space behind the buildings for storage for workshops or the goods of the main nucleated type settlement of the new towns. This organization allowed that they could be built in close relation to Royal farms and the main roadway for simplified logistics in east to west.

In short the three types could also be grouped by primary usage, though not exclusive, wooden buildings tended predominantly to be residential buildings constructed from the baronial and then royal purse for subjects who needed homes and also served as small workshops for village goods. Masonry stone working was the favored construction style of state sponsored religious or main government institutions including reinforced military fortifications as the road network developed across the realm. Brick facilities were the material of construction for royally funded commercial ventures or crafts... at least that was broadly speaking the purpose. The brick row house's introduction was a direct outgrowth of material availability and the need to provide housing for the Irrisen diaspora. That diaspora from Irrisen represented a necessary religious component.

Pharsma, Desna, and surprisingly, but especially, Milani were the primary deities of the common people, the recently emancipated serfs. There was the green faith as well, but the druidic faith had its own separate rustic traditions. But more immediately, "Are these numbers accurate?" He asked

"They are," Kanerah replied, and there by it created roughly speaking a royal prerogative to raise temples to address the needs of the roughly thousand or so peasants.

The typical process of royal administration thuse was a subdivision of efforts. Milani was the easiest by far in that accounting. The branch of the Osirion Church of Pharasma was generally responsible for administration ... much as he had dispatched them to deal with Maegar's need for a church of Pharsma. That left Desna... because that either meant an elvish lead congregation, one lead by the Nomen who worshipped mother moon... there was no centralized national church in the Inner sea so far as he could find to serve as template to create and manage Desna temples leaving it a process of small congregations... which Eire found more than a little vexing.

.. but he supposed his own ideas of a national church were really the more out of place notion. He was still working towards that, but there were complications.

Amiri didn't understand it, but it would help keep things organized to have a basic framework of how different churches could uniformly operate according to the laws of the realm... preferably without the appearance of, or what could be misconstrued as, making them subordinate to Iomedae's church, or worse creating a significant doctrinal issue within the faith.

There was one more. Valerie shuffled through her papers, "There is one more."

Jhod nodded and spoke up, "Grandmother crow, Andoletta, she stands among the empyreal lords." The old cleric paused, "The Church of Erastil can assist the small congregation we have, she is frequently associated with the Elkfather, and their realms are neighbors in Heaven above." Jhod was happy to inform the chancellor of the realm, and that he could be of service. Paying appropriate respect to the deities was important, especially those with less formal church rites, and few clergy to draw upon, "Your majesty?"

Eire breathed. "I have a drafted a letter to Queen Galfrey regarding the favelas," they didn't interrupt his use of the strange word but it did occur to him that he had used it in communications as well with the queen of mendev and he hoped she had the reading comprehension to understand what he meant. "the masses of refugees who live in the shanty towns around the crusader structures we will need to take steps to resettle those who can be migrated beyond the world wound and the frontline... especially given the escalation of hostilities against the Abyss."

That was the use of the church model as well. He needed their services in labor terms to assist in social services... welfare. He had not considered that there would be effects of the winter on Avistani grain prices.. It would almost certainly increase push and pull factors of migration... they would need to be ready.

He stopped, and turned to regard the cleric of Erastil, " I am aware that some of your coreligionists do not like the idea of the winter wheat crop." It was a break with tradition, and Erastil clergy were by and large stodgy old farmers who already terribly thrilled by the way the baronial farms had been run when they had been first drafted and planned, "I was hoping for a few more harvests to see what grew best but we are going to have to open the granaries anyway in order to maintain food prices and support the increasing population. Feeding them will facilitate labor, which facilitate expansion, which will bring additional land under cultivation," And so on and so forth.

It was economics. The church of Erastil didn't necessarily have to like it, but it served the needs of the state. It was far from the only disagreement though that he'd had with one of the major faiths of the realm. Jhod was confident that given time his fellow clergymen would accept that these developments were sufficiently proven... other disagreements such as with the Church of Calistria would not be so easy to resolve.

Jhod, and Valerie were supportive of the ideas regarding farming. There was not any royal pressure to force, compel farmers, independent free holding farmers to change their farming methods. "I would think that the Church will be more largely involved in reaching out to the Irrisen folk who have arrived."

Irrisen was a land of constant unnatural winter. Erastil as a god of agriculture at least had had no sway after the winter war had ushered in the rule of the Jadwiga.

"Is the reason for ... this need for cultivation," Jhod was quoting him, without probably grasping the particulars of the terminology, "the reason for the crusade."

"In part." He answered. Erastil was a communal village deity of farms, and homesteads, and parish crofts, and not of cities in particular. That was one of the distinctions and disagreements between Abadar and Erastil was in the organization of settlements, "Greater producitivity will help to support efforts in Mendev yes, , but removing the numbers of dependents from the Crusade front serves other practical purposes by reducing the resources needed at the front, and allows a greater mobility to crusader forces in theory."

He wanted to draw down the refugees and displaced from the frontline to reduce the number of mouths needed to be fed in Mendev for food security reasons, but it would also mean that those populations couldn't be directly thretened by demonic attack.

It was one of the things they needed to outline in council regarding how to contend with permanent resettlement of refugees from the worldwound. He understood why it hadn't been done by the surrounding medieval, even the well formed borders of true territorial, kingdoms... because there was no national heavily centralized state to effectively organize or even more simply to think in that context within medieval territorial kingdoms dealing with international geopolitics of transit and the logistics of moving those people.

He was applying ideas that were at their fundamental core developments of early modern societies engaged in the wars of europe of the 1700s and beyond. He had a very different mindset than the territorial monarchs.

"Numeria sits between them and the realm." Valerie observed, which was arguably the largest logistical hurdle in movement of people and goods. The crusades had created an excellent market for Numeria's technic league, and the Issian houses of brevoy to apply surcharges and fees to the movement of goods to crusaders.

They were going to need more ships. In terms of capacity three hundred people and fifty tons was fine for a jaunt of some five hundred miles as the crow flew, but in terms of transport of people one ship would be far from sufficient. That would also mean the careful nurturing of specialized mana flowers to deploy those ships.

There was an explosion of activity from the doors, as Linzi pushed through them. The halfling was panting, and was mostly incoherent. "There's an emergency." Was about the most coherent thing she managed waving her arms holding a letter in one hand.

"I did not realize that this was underway."

Linzi swallowed down a gulp of water as she took a seat at the table. "Eobald... had been writing saying things in Pitax had been getting pretty rough lately... I mean part of it was all the Kellid tribes... King Irovetti has been hosting them for a while.... he's originally from Numeria so maybe he's actually one of them... but then the snows came... and there were winter fey attacks apparently and it was bad. So I might have said he could come here..."

"But?"

"apparently as they were crossing over the slough they were attacked by trolls, and only some of them got away."

"Baron Hannis always claimed that he was attacked by much larger groups of trolls than we could ever ascribe to Harrgulka..."

Eire nodded, "I'd go so far as to wager that Drelev probably went looking for trolls and found completely unrelated ones to Harrgulka and escalated things," And if that were the case that might explain why the hooktongue slough remained closed due to monster attacks after their own troll troubles had ended. Indeed it might have otherwise been comical if Drelev had kept stumbling into such problems and making things worse... if not for his own proximity to their realm.... but there was of course the potential problem that somewhere in the Hooktongue was alleged the Black Dragon Illthuliak.

... and of course Jaethal was entirely correct to remind them of the situation that might develop if Armag Twice born's great confederation gave the troops to march west in an attempt to supplant the reigning Black Sovereign, and Harrim wasn't wrong to highlight he could just as well turn the opposite direction, and come east.

--
Notes: As with Forgotten Realms, and DnD more broadly Golarion operates on a vaguely henotheistic system, this is something an attempt to elaborate more on religion while still contending with a vaguely modern esque church structure rather than going strictly back in antiquity. This does basically take a side line as we move on to the end of 4713 for the time being as of course the weather turns cold, and winter replaces fall.

 

[Imperator Pax]

Lamashan 4713
There were another few days until Ascendance Day, but in the mean time with the end of the calendar year approaching and they in the now last quarter of the year he was finally looking at the rolls that Kanerah had wanted him to look at, as well as the reports from Vordakai and those also from Maegar regarding their eastern frontier.

Having seen the crusaders though Eire had his focus in part elsewhere. The truth was while he'd always had recognized he was going to need horses for military reasons, mounted infantry, cavalry, scouts, messengers a mere two years earlier he hadn't readily appreciated the sheer breadth of the steppe to his east.

What he had never planned on was the notion of needing to recreate the byzantine military reforms that he half remembered from a lifetime ago... and most likely if he did get so far as to recreate those ... he was already expecting that they'd be mixed in with anachronistically more modern, by Earth standards, unit organization and the typical base ten of steppe organization.

Organic battalions at regimental and brigade level would also have to contend with the realities of what he had to work with. That meant accommodating for magic. That meant involvement also of organizations like the other churches but also arcane magic with regards to weapons of war, i.e. Siege engines or devices. That as with everything related to military spending promised to be expensive.

Eire circled the enchanted map, and its expanse of greens, browns, and blue bounded by the mountains that had broadly speaking previously divided his mandate from Maegar's Varnhold. There was a matter in anthropological conversations on Earth to assert strenuously that there was no such thing as 'natural X', be that farmers, warriors, or merchants in the group sense. That was easier to do when you were talking in an abstract historical sense of populations long faded and much harder when you were living among them, and indeed more so in a world of magic and active gods.

Leaving aside the decline of the Taldan empire, and the death of Aroden, for the moment the lack of a coherent 'shadow empire' on the steppe wasn't the sort of reassuring factor he might have hoped. There didn't seem to have been one during the Taldan ascent either, but he was cognizant that his development of an organized state and polity buttressing the steppe might express pressures on the nomads who otherwise were unused to or little recognized fixed territorial boundaries not defined by obvious terrain features.

Border protection was thereby likely to be a priority, and would have been even without those thoughts because it was what Maegar and Vordakai had both brought up before he had departed for the excursion to Mendev. Amvarean sheltered by the mountains to the Lake's east, and the natural water boundaries particularly to her south was less likely to have the same immediate concerns.

"I had been planning for a fortress," What would eventually become the Castle town and also subsequently the religious center and university town of Wintersun, "To permanently anchor the planar rift that Irrisen used to link the realms," In part due to the fact the natural ley line connected his realm to the first world, and thus from there to Irrisen, and it wasn't impossible that Irrisen could conceivably reopen that line of attack. It would have been stupid not to take precautions against such a threat.

Kanerah paused, and waited.

Vordakai merely nodded, but it was just as likely that the ancient cyclops had considered that up until now.

It was Valerie who made the observation, "While it is true that our population grows, the Narlmarches are difficult land to construct in, we have too many projects, and not enough manpower," While Olegton, and Tatzlford were growing they were slower than Trobold, which fell behind the likes of Hereford. The Narlmarch could be divided into distinct sub regions... what might one day be distinct counties but for now were just geographical regions divided by the rivers.

Tatzlford sat near the Temple of the Elk, but also sat near other settlements on the river including Akiros's hold, which had thus far developed a small number of kellid settlers who had joined him rather than proceed further west to join Armag and the Tiger Lords.

The north narlmarch ws just slower growing than its south or dire neighbors because the latter attracted more settlers from the Inner Sea, or at least from further abroad. "And there is Maegar to consider as well." The truth was the Varnhold, and to a lesser extent the southern portion of the mandate allocated to the Varnhold including the vast steppe needed to be settled but the kingdom was still young.

"Something to contend with after the thaw," And that would be after the snows came, since the autumn harvest had been run, and why they were discussing the iobarian winter wheat matter. "For now," Kanerah paused, "It is the influx of people that concerns me."

In a more established realm, if they were assimilating already existing villages, well they would have perhaps been most like Varnhold or perhaps tatzlford with hamlets and outlying settlements beside. There would be clergy, there would be village elders. It would have probably from these ranks Pharasmin and Erastilian clergy would have largely been drawn.

Instead there was the matter of what Kanerah had noticed months earlier. The migration of people with various individual needs and a far less organic support network in a faraway land. That presented a use or even need to the royal authorities to involve themselves far more noticeably at all levels of society. This was not the norm in Brevoy, or even comparatively more centralized centralized Mendev.

Eire scratched on the paper, it was paper not vellum, but efforts to make pens and good ink was an entirely different production issue, and having been on Golarion for several years now his ink from earth was largely all gone for the ball point pens he had brought. Thus it was somewhat difficult to graph even if he had had proper paper. Kanerah was right, though some of the population growth was distorted from the small scale of time.

The kingdom's foundation, the transition from barony to kingdom, had occurred so recently that it was hard to tell if there was a casual factor there or not. It was telling though in referring to what records they had kept, that they could identify the sources. Immigrants entering through the border with Brevoy across the greenbelt, and the Restov hinterlands had remained largely stable, while migration from the Inner Sea had doubled, then doubled again, and so forth.

Kanerah had noticed months ago when they were talking about several hundred in the course of a month, but they were in excess of that. After a moment Eire paused and asked for the documents pertain to the Varnhold. Maegar's settlement of the expansive steppe was more limited than Narland, and it more closely mirrored the demographics of Brevoy with a comparatively larger dwarf population, now approaching something like ten percent of the Varnhold.

Admittedly, that might have been temporary but Maegar had fewer elves and gnomes than Narland, fewer halflings. Then there was also that while the Varnhold had ruins they were far less clustered than in the kamelands and the narlmarches, and the Varnhold sat on the Iobarian steppe's western fringe.

Sketching the graph by comparison Maegar's Varnhold, discounting the centaurs of course, but even counting them he doubted it would meaningfully impact the curve, there was a stark contrast as while Varnhold's initial population, the demoblization or at least partial demobilization of the varnling host as a mercenary intuition and the migration of brevic families had meant a larger base population, it had remained largely stable in growth.

He was reasonably sure that he could intuit the growth curve of the Drelev Demesne to the west more likely mirrored the angle of Varnhold. "We will have to revisit this in the spring," He replied after a moment considering things, "and look more closely at Maegar's domain, compared to our own in terms of the percentage of the population living within towns, and the capital." He had almost said city... but they were going to need to to adjust if this pattern held.

"I'll need to summon Amvarean to discuss this."

The road to Varnhold had been the second major road project; the first after all had been the intention to link Shrikewall to Olegton and then to the south Rostlandic Road leading to Restov. Silverstep, by comparison, could easily be reached by river boats, and barges. Roads were inevitable to develop but the waterway was a natural expedient, and unlike with the Shrike there were no series of waterfalls to make it more difficult to reach the other end.

--
Notes: We step into a small mini arc next week, but for other updates, I plan, to start updating Eminence in Shadow Next week, ideally I'd be able to get the first new update up Friday, but I make no promises.

 

[Imperator Pax]

6 Lamashan 4713AR
In a week it would Harvest feast, and just under two weeks would be the Hunter's moon, and as a result he would have been perfectly happen to have otherwise ascribed Maegar's vassals talking about going hunting just fine as some other Erastilian holiday. Today was Ascendance day, and frankly there were a number of things he needed to do not the least of which was supporting Mouri's organization of hunting down the hag, even though they had rescued Linzi's mentor Eobald, who had been abducted as he had made his migration from the neighboring kingdom of pitax.

Regongar had reported that they had actually been ogres in the southern narlmarches, but giant kin were giant kin to most peasants... especially ones terrified and who'd rushed to the first sign of order and governance to report things. It was doubtful that the surviving hags would return to the dwarven ruins but at least Tulvak had escaped again... and of course it simply reiterated the need to take greater efforts to secure the frontier and better assert royal authority in the southern narlmarches.

Eire looked at the two Aldori sisters, and exhaled tilting his head. "Forgive me Lady Aldori, I could have sworn that you just suggested that a hunters guild, to which I have had hitherto no introduction to has just invited myself, and my retainers to a hunt within my own demesne." Harrgulka made some amount noise as he shuffled back slightly out of the way from where he'd been standing... slouching really by the great table. The troll was standing up as sweat started to form upon his brow. Eire continued, "That this guild has without my leave makes this invitation after having built a structure literally within my personal domain whilst I was engaged against the forces of the abyss, and then has the temerity to speak to me of interacting peacefully with my neighbors." He hissed as the flames in the room reached a fevers pitch. He exhaled. "Do I have that quite right?"

Maegar's retainers shuffled slightly.

It had not been a rhetorical question.

Eire wanted an answer, an explanation.

He paused, turned away from the two actual half elves to the silver dragon in half elf form. "Amvarean, has this grand ranger spoken to you perhaps?" Certainly Valerie had heard nothing he could tell that from her expression.

"He has not." The silver dragon replied her fingers tapped on the edge of the table.

If there had been some indication that Jamel Visser had been given some idea of permission, if this has been an invitation in Maegar's demense if this had been in the dunsward in the vicinity of Varnhold that would have been a completely different matter. If Visser was some member of Erastil's faith and this was being done as part of the Temple of the Elk's operations. If the ranger had been some friend of Oleg's. IF, IF, IF...

Anything any sort of explanation that this was a misunderstanding, and a series of miscommunications and signals to explain away the matter.

There were no forthcoming explanations.

"Nothing?" He questioned. "Very well let us to move on from the issues of sheer presumption, they say 'monster infested banks of the gudrin'." He raised an eyebrow, "Is there an explanation for this? Is this as serious claim, or artistic license, a flourish of words."

Amvarean scrutinized the 'invitation', "I cannot explain this. I might have surmised he was referring to some winter fey who managed to get through the portal from Irrissen but it has been weeks now any such threats should have been long quelled."

That was what he had thought as well. Certainly the war against the frozen north's ambitions would have made a probable explanation.

"Amiri, Regongar, Kundal,," He glanced to Akiros, "Akiros, if you would like to join them, you maybe go on this hunting expedition." Shaoyu started, "You may participate if you like." He informed his ward. "Amvarean, Jaethal and I will be investigating this matter of the realm so we will not have time to hunt in the more traditional sense." He waved off Jolia Aldori's attempts to vouch for Jamel Visser's character and reputation. "I am going to say mass. We will convene the council this afternoon."

--
Eire allowed the knight of Torrent to retake her seat before he looked around. Tulvak was proving very difficult to hunt down, but the coven that she had inserted herself in had been apparently fraying anyway... they were relatively sure that the other hags were all accounted for and dead. The ogres were dealt with as well.

Eobald had reiterated much of what Linzi had told him they had discussed anyway. Conditions in Pitax were complicated. Iorvetti was numerian by national origin and on good terms with the barbarians, but while the great chief and the petty king were jovial companions by all indication the same was not necessarily true of relations between city folk and parts of the tribal confederations...

There had been instances of violence before... Pitax's criminal element potentially or not. Cheating at dice, drunken brawls. Simple small things that ordinarily wouldn't have amounted to much suddenly meant a lot more with thousands of barbarians around. Then of course the snows had fallen at high summer... and the winter fey and boreal creatures and warriors of Irrisen had attacked.

It had given the barbarians a chance to flex their muscles and protect Pitax, but it had also damaged Pitax's crops.... which he had already known that. That had in the short term created complaints because of course Pitax's 'high culture' high status culture was more Taldan, based on oil cultivation for cooking rather than butter based cooking that was more prevalent across northern Avistan, but it had also effected other crops than just sensitive olives as the crisis had continued, and the snows had fallen throughout Erastus before the portals had been shut.

"Kesten do you have anything to add?"

"No your majesty not at this time."

"Tristian?" Also nothing. He sighed, "Very well. Winter is approaching, the natural winter, and the end of the year, is there anything in particular that springs to mind?" There was actually quite a lot, with the migration of people... the Irrissen, and their settlement, the migration of nomadic folk, the actions of the bellflower network, which continued to bring freed slaves up the river, and that included more than just halflings. Slavery was also practiced across the Inner Sea, and thus the prospect of liberty far away must have been a powerful pull.

Every winter as part of what was basically a matter of feudal holding court there were reports of the realm. I was not a parliament in the legislature sense, it did not pass laws, and it did not authorize the collection of taxes. That was somewhat precluded by the body of laws that had been drafted by when Shrikewall had been merely a baronial seat.

Such laws were intended to be exactly as they were written. They weren't byzantine... though if one didn't speak draconic one might be confused, but the laws themselves were also published in Taldane vulgar. A problem for those who weren't literate in etiher, he was willing to admit. The laws though were transparent. They provided a clear framework for how society was to work, how trade to be conducted what was and wasn't legally civilly or criminally permissible. Also given it was a base ten system with a clear understanding of Zero it was easy to make the tax system clear.

The Monarchy's courts were the courts of appeal to lesser jurisdictions. They furnished the methods to review grievances that he did not have himself the time for. The reason that Eire had not permitted the election of sheriffs, lay not in any opposition to recreating in Narland that anglo-saxon institution but because it was impractical. The migration of people into the realm was more akin to early modern migrations, rather than that of the era of migrations. The latter would have described the migrations of Kellids and Iobarians, who weren't actually coming to settle.

As a result the new settlements, the nascent counties of the Kingdom were paper constructs, rather than at this point authentic communities. Royal law formed a structural framework, and there in lay the matter of bringing the people together.

There was therefore no shortage of things to do, and as always the continual problem of taxes remained that of not having a fully monetized economy. That Cheliax's broadly feudal nature resulted in payment in kind by serfs and tenant farmers as a share of their crops didn't ameliorate his annoyance at the condition.

The end result was instead of taking a portion of the harvest, it was to be commuted to labor services at a market rate, to be provided outside of the farming season. This provided the labor to conduct work during a period where farmers would otherwise be idle, but it bounded into the matter of customary labor services that might contribute to undesirable social habits. He would have preferred being able to pay wag laborers to do contract work... but that of course wasn't entirely practical.

All of that moved things into the subject of integration of various different subjects, especially when the most recent word from Cheliax had been that at least one winter gateway to Irrisen as part of Elvanna's mad scheme had been opened on the fringes of the Ravounel forest, and that there were rumors another such portal had opened within the Chelish heartlands.

Eire flipped the heavy paper look at the next column of numbers, a break down in statistics of migrants. What he would like to do was to see slaves either turned into yeomanry, or businessmen... preferably than itinerant laborers, but that was something to require investment.

There was one other matter. He planned to inaugurate a Midwinter celebration this year, since it would be six months from the winter portals being opened, and it would commemorate the realm's victory against Elvanna of Irrisen's rather foolhardy attempt.